Ethan
by rmonroe
Summary: SG-8 returns from a distant planet with a 22-month-old boy who's mother claimed that Daniel was the father right before she died. SG-1 is forced to take care of the little boy, and Daniel has to make some difficult decisions. A wee bit of D/V and S/J
1. The Arrival

The long(?) awaited story of how Daniel met Ethan. :) This is post season ten and the movies. I'm operating under the assumption that SG-1 got back together when Sam returned from Atlantis. Enjoy!  


* * *

General Landry was sitting in his office, sorting through piles of boring paperwork, when an airman from the gate room rapped on the door and poked his head in. The general looked up, relieved to have a reprieve from the paperwork, but apprehensive as the airman's arrival likely meant something was wrong in the gate room.

"What is it airman?" he asked.

"SG-8 sent a message through the gate, sir," the young man said calmly.

Calmness was a good sign at least. Often someone came rushing in babbling an urgent message that the gate was about to blow up or something, so it must not be too bad, but then again, SG-8 hadn't been scheduled to report for another few hours.

"All right airman, let's go." General Landry stood from his desk and followed him into the control room, glancing through the big window in the conference room for any signs of an impending disaster. They came down the stairs into the control room which was the same as always, except an undercurrent of uncertain amusement was felt in the way the gate technicians were shifting in their seats. The way they kept glancing at each other made the general feel as though he had just walked unwelcome into a private joke. "Where's the message?" he asked, narrowing his eyes and watching the technicians carefully.

"Sorry sir, hold on a second sir, I'll get that for you," Walter said, his hands fumbling around on the keyboard to bring up the recorded message.

The general watched the screen above his head as it crackled with static and then Colonel Braxton's face snapped onto the screen. "Um sir, we have a bit of a situation here. Nothing . . . horrible, but we thought you'd want to know." General Landry tried to hide his impatience. It seemed the Colonel was reluctant to deliver the news, but the general couldn't think of anything truly awful happening on P4X31. SG-1 had been there two-and-a-half years ago and had been greeted by the friendly people very warmly. The SGC had stayed in contact with the people, as there were a few small deposits of naquidah on the planet that were being harvested. SG-8 had been there to oversee just such a project as a new deposit had been recently discovered. "Um . . . there's a woman here who claims Dr. Jackson. . . is the father of her child." A snicker was heard in the background and the colonel looked back sharply at his off-camera team member. "I have to admit sir, the kid looks like he could be Dr. Jackson's. Also, sir," the colonel continued after shooting another glare behind him as his team member snickered again. "She says she's dying from some kind of incurable disease and she wants us to bring the kid back to the SGC so he can . . . um, be with his father." The colonel shrugged apologetically, clearly at a loss of what to do. "Anyway sir, we'll see if there's anything else we can do to figure this out and check back in a couple hours." Colonel Braxton backed up and the transmission dissolved back into static.

General Landry stood there for a minute, trying to process what he'd just heard and realizing why the gate technicians had been acting so strange as he first came in. Obviously, this needed to be discussed with Dr. Jackson himself, but he was currently on a mission with SG-1 until tomorrow morning. The general sighed, deciding he could wait until the next transmission from SG-8 before sending a message to SG-1 about this. He highly doubted that what this woman claimed was true, but Daniel had managed to get himself into stranger things. He suddenly realized that the technicians and airmen in the gate room were watching him.

"Everyone back to work," he said a little gruffly. "And don't go spreading this all over the base people." He turned and returned to his office, realizing with a shake of his head that SG-1 never ceased to surprise him.

* * *

SG-8 sent another message through not even two hours later, and this time Landry was ready and was in the gate room so he could talk to Colonel Braxton personally. The screen crackled to life again and the general tried to ignore the eager way in which the gate technicians waited for more news. Landry had the brief, somewhat disturbing thought that this was the kind of thing daytime TV shows presented, and the technicians were not doing anything to change that thought.

"Go ahead Colonel," Landry said, having to admit to himself that he was very curious about the situation as well.

The comm fizzled and shorted and then came through clear, allowing those in the control room to hear the sound of a crying child. Colonel Braxton looked slightly panicked as he started speaking. "Sir, the woman I told you about earlier . . . uh . . . well, she's dead sir."

Landry was surprised to hear that. They really might have a problem here. The crying grew louder in the background and Colonel Braxton glanced over his shoulder with a frown. "Colonel, do you have the child in question with you?" the general asked, fearing the answer.

"Uh, yes sir. No one else in the town will take him. They have this really strong belief that the kid should be with Dr. Jackson." The colonel's eyes were now quite large and he was looking a little desperate.

Yep, definitely a problem. "Colonel, are you sure no one will take care of the child?"

"Yes, sir. I believe our only choice is to bring him back, sir."

The general pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. "Any chance the child carries the same disease as the mother?"

The colonel shook his head. "I guess there's a chance sir, but the mother died of some kind of cancer as far as we can tell, and no one else in the village is sick with it."

The general sighed again. "All right Colonel, come on through."

"Thank you, sir!" Colonel Braxton said, immediately beginning to shout orders to his team and shutting off the transmission.

General Landry leaned over the control desk and switched on the comm for the whole base. "Anyone with any experience with children please report to the gateroom," he said, looking at the gate with apprehension. This was going to be a long day.

A few minutes later, several confused looking members of SG teams and general staff at the mountain were in the gate room, looking up at the general through the window. He supposed he should go down there and explain it to them, so with another heavy sigh, he went down into the gate room.

"All right people, in a few minutes, SG-8 is going to come through the gate with a baby." He paused briefly, wondering the best way to phrase the next part and watched as the people he was addressing give each other confused looks. "The child just lost his mother and the villagers seem to think the kid belongs here, so you are going to have to take care of him."

The people were giving each other even more confused looks. A member of SG-6 stepped forward. "Sir, I don't mind helping out, but why do the villagers think the kid is our responsibility?"

General Landry just looked at him, trying to figure out a way to tell the truth without mentioning Daniel. He finally settled on using his rank. "That's classified, Captain."

Just then, the gate activated and everyone turned to watch, faces alight in the blue glow. SG-8 stepped through, and the sound of crying filled the room. As the team strode down the ramp, Landry's eyes went to the source of the sound. The little boy had buried his head in Lieutenant McCauley's shoulder, his little body trembling with each sob. Landry was reminded that the poor little guy had just been taken from everything he knew by strange men he'd never seen before and a feeling of pity swept over him.

The team reached the bottom of the ramp, and everyone looked toward the general, awaiting orders for this strange situation. Landry cleared his throat and looked at the expectant faces around him. "Okay, we're going to need an away team to get supplies for him, and a team to stay here and take care of him," he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the crying. "And by the way, Colonel," he said, addressing Colonel Braxton. "What's his name?"

"She called him Ethaneas, sir," the Colonel replied.

Landry frowned. That was a mouthful. "All right, you, you, and you, take the kid to the infirmary and make sure everything's okay, and the rest of you head out and gather what you can for him. SG-8, hit the showers."

Everyone moved off, following their respective orders and the crying faded as the "team" took the little boy down the hall to the infirmary, leaving the general with the hard part – telling Daniel to get back to base because they'd found a kid on some distant planet that was supposedly his. _And, _it was night by now on P784X2 so he'd have to wake up the team to do it.

Sighing, he went back up to the control room. "Chief, dial P784X2. I've got to talk to SG-1."

* * *

Daniel shifted on the hard ground, trying to find a spot where the large rock underneath his sleeping bag wouldn't dig into his back. He had hoped the layer of pine needles from the trees surrounding them would make a comfortable bed, but apparently, it was a very _big_ rock. He finally decided it was impossible and resigned himself to a night of being uncomfortable, when his com crackled to life.

"SG-1! Come in!"

The sudden sound made Daniel jump, and he fumbled with his pack in the dark, trying to get to the com unit. He could hear the rest of the team also trying to get to their com units in the darkness. Sam had been on watch and got to her's first.

"This is Colonel Carter." Daniel looked toward her voice and could just make out her fuzzy outline in the darkness. He was reaching for his flash light when a sudden light blinded him.

"Oops, sorry," Vala said, lowering her flash light.

"No you're not," Daniel muttered, hearing the grin in her voice.

"SG-1, this is General Landry. There's a situation here at the base that requires Dr. Jackson's immediate attention."

Daniel clicked his com and spoke. "General?"

Landry cut him off. "Believe me son, this is one of those things you're just going to have to see for yourself."

The team exchanged confused looks. Then Cam picked up his com.

"Sir, it's going to take us four hours to get back to the gate; probably more in the dark."

"I'm aware of that Colonel," the general said, starting to sound annoyed. "Just get back here as soon as you can."

"Yes sir," Sam said. "We'll see you in a few hours."

"Good. Landry out."

"Daniel's in trouble!" Vala said in a sing-song voice, nudging his arm.

He ignored her and started untangling himself from his sleeping bag.

"Seriously though," Cam said switching on his own flashlight and starting to roll up his sleeping bag. "What the heck could require your immediate attention at the base?"

"Well, I'll tell you what, if it's just some cruddy old translation, I am not going to be happy!" Vala said, stuffing the sleeping bag into her backpack.

Daniel glared at her. "It's not my fault the general woke you up."

"I believe the general wished us to return in haste," Teal'c rumbled, already packed up.

Vala stuck her tongue out at Daniel and resumed packing her bag. Daniel glared at her for a minute and then began rolling up his own sleeping bag.

A few minutes later, they were all trudging through the forest, their flashlight beams sweeping the ground. The thick pine trees surrounding them blocked any light from the moon or stars and the flashlights only cut a thin beam through the heavy darkness.

Vala shrunk close to Daniel, jumping every time the movement of their flashlights caused a shadow to move. Daniel sighed in mild annoyance, but had to admit the forest was a little creepy.

"Daniel," Sam said from behind him. "Was there anything in your lab that could have caused a problem?"

"Sam, it's your lab that causes problems. Namely, explosions," Cam teased.

"Ha ha," Sam said, unamused. She hadn't exploded _that_ many things in her lab.

Daniel thought for a moment but couldn't think of anything he'd left at the base that would cause a big enough problem to require them all to trudge through this dark forest in the middle of the night. "I don't think so. It's probably something someone brought through the gate."

"Perhaps another Ancient device that requires a sound understanding of the language," Teal'c contributed.

"Or maybe," Vala jumped in, "It's a map to an incredible treasure!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I kind of doubt that would require my immediate attention."

Vala continued guessing what could be waiting for them back at the base, each guess getting crazier and more unlikely than the last, until they finally reached the gate. Daniel dialed Earth as fast as possible, mostly because he was sick of Vala's guesses, but also because he was getting pretty curious as to what the general needed. The gate whooshed outward, the sudden light blinding them for a moment, and then they stepped through, Vala leading the way eagerly.

* * *

General Landry ventured into the guest room cautiously. The last time he'd come to check on the kid, the "babysitting team" had just gotten him calmed down from his traumatizing trip through the gate, but the kid had taken one look at the general and started crying again.

This time however, the little boy was sound asleep and the "team" was leaving for the evening, passing the baton – i.e. the baby monitor – to Lieutenant North, one of the nurses on duty overnight.

As the general came into the room, the three of them who had been caring for the little boy filed past him, weariness evident on their faces. Landry sighed. He probably should have rotated the troops a little bit. Sighing again, he realized he could handle alien invasions with no problem but the invasion of one tiny boy was almost proving too much for him.

He gazed at the sleeping little boy thoughtfully. Now that the boy's face was relaxed in sleep, he could definitely see the resemblance to Dr. Jackson, though his face was partially obscured by the thumb in his mouth. Something told him the little boy had deep blue eyes and probably a passion for languages and ancient civilizations as well.

The general laughed at himself. Looking at the little boy it was easy to imagine him being Jackson's child, but he was sure the man was not that irresponsible. This had to be some crazy misunderstanding.

Just then, the faint noise of sirens caught his attention. He walked out into the hall and realized someone, probably Walter, had thought ahead and disabled the sirens in the the immediately surrounding area of the guest room, so they wouldn't wake the little boy up. Landry could just make out the words "off-world activation" from the next hallway over and hurried up to the control room.

"It's SG-1's IDC, sir," the gate technician informed him.

"Open the iris," the general said. He felt both relief and apprehension at the return of SG-1. He still hadn't worked out exactly how he was going to tell Jackson about the child, but he also knew he could give the responsibility of the little boy to SG-1 and they would take care of it like they took care of everything he threw at them.

Vala came through first, almost running down the ramp. The rest of the team came through more sedately, though the general could see the curiosity on their faces as well.

"SG-1," Landry said through the speaker. "Go get changed and meet me in the briefing room."

Vala's face fell. "Give us a clue at least?" she said looking up at him.

"Briefing room," he replied and started heading up the stairs.

Ten minutes later, SG-1 was seated around the briefing table, waiting for the general to join them.

"He's doing it on purpose," Vala pouted, her chin resting in her hand.

The rest of the team didn't reply. They were all thinking that this was turning out to be much less of an emergency than they had thought.

Finally, the general came into the room, waving Sam and Cameron down as they started to stand. "All right people, take a look at this." The general had decided that showing them Colonel Braxton's transmissions would be the easiest way to go. He had also considered just showing them to Daniel first, but he figured they'd all know eventually, might as well just get it over with.

SG-1 leaned forward as the screen came on and the message began playing. The general had the pleasure of watching their faces as they heard Colonel Braxton's announcement. They all looked at Daniel with slightly amused looks, eyebrows raised at first, and Daniel just looked confused, and a little annoyed. Then, as the second message played, their faces changed from amusement to shock to confusion.

The transmission ended and everyone was silent for several moments, even Vala shocked into silence.

"Sir," Sam finally ventured. "Does this mean the . . . child, is here? On the base?"

The general nodded and turned his attention to Daniel. He was staring down at the desk, his brow furrowed. Vala was staring at him, her mouth slightly open.

"Uh, Jackson? Something you wanna tell us?" Cam said.

Daniel looked up and realized everyone was staring at him. "He's not . . ._ mine_," he said, his annoyance at the situation clear.

"What planet was this on, sir?" Sam asked.

"P4X31. I was just about to ask you if anything strange could have happened. We've dealt with memory devices before," the general said, reminding them that stranger things than this had happened.

"We were only there for a couple of hours, sir. I don't think the people would have had access to any kind of memory changing device either," Sam said, her thoughts moving rapidly through the different possible scenarios that could have caused this confusion.

"I believe you, but that doesn't solve our problem. The people on the planet won't care for the child as long as they believe he's Dr. Jackson's," Landry said, looking around the table.

"Would not a simple DNA test prove Daniel Jackson is not the child's father?" Teal'c suggested.

"Yes, of course. We're already running the tests, but it's going to take a little while. In the mean time, I need you to take care of him," the general said.

There was a moment of silence.

"Sir?" Cam started. "You want us to what?"

"Don't worry people, he should stay asleep for the next little while. It's not morning on his planet for another six hours or so." The general watched as they all calculated that morning on P4X31 was about 3 AM on Earth.

"Where is he?" Daniel asked, with more than a trace of apprehension.

"He's in guest room 12, and the baby monitor is in the infirmary with Lieutenant North," the general replied, amused at the trepidation in which his team faced their new challenge. "Oh, and his name is Ethaneas. Get to it, people."

The team stood as the general left the room and looked at each other. Finally Cam shrugged and led the way out of the room. "C'mon guys, this is gonna be easy compared to savin' the galaxy," he said with a cocky grin.

The rest of the team followed him, but Daniel stayed seated for a moment. He kept getting the feeling that he was missing something. He shrugged it off and stood slowly, following the rest of his team down the stairs.

They reached the guest room and found the door slightly open. Cam pushed it open slowly and they all filed silently inside. When they were all squished into the small guest room, the thought came to Daniel that they probably should have gone in separately, but they were all equally curious.

A sliver of light from the open doorway fell on the sleeping child, and Daniel gazed at him, Vala close behind and looking over his shoulder.

"Daniel," she whispered. "He looks just like you!"

The other three members of SG-1 looked back and forth between Daniel and the little boy, comparing them.

"The child does bear a striking resemblance," Teal'c said softly.

"You _sure_ there's not something you wanna tell us, Jackson?" Cameron said with a grin.

The little boy whimpered suddenly and rolled over, looking for a moment like he was going to wake up. SG-1 froze in place, holding their breath, but the little boy remained asleep. They all backed carefully out of the room, and Cam shut the door most of the way.

"Close one," he said, grin still in place.

"Well, Daniel," Vala said as they started down the hall toward the infirmary. "I can see why they think he's yours! He looks just _like _you!"

Daniel didn't reply. The feeling that he was forgetting something had returned in full force when he'd seen the little boy, and it was frustrating him. Or maybe it was just Vala that was frustrating him.

"You okay?" Sam asked him quietly, falling back to walk with him as their other team members went ahead, continuing the discussion regarding the child's resemblance to Daniel.

"What?" Daniel said, raising his head and looking at her. "Oh, yeah," he replied as his brain caught up to what she'd said.

She looked closely at him and he tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Daniel, I've known you for a _long_ time. What's the matter?" she asked, seeing right through the false smile.

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I just . . . I guess I feel like I'm missing something."

To his surprise, Sam nodded. "Yeah, me too."

They looked at each other for a minute.

"Come on, guys," Cam called to them from down the hall. He held up the baby monitor and waved it around. "We're gonna work out babysitting shifts!"

They picked up the pace to catch up with the rest of their team. "We'll figure it out," Sam said quietly. Daniel shot her a grateful look and then they were engulfed in Vala and Cam's banter about who would take the first shift with the baby monitor.


	2. First Encounters

The crying started a couple hours later. Daniel had eventually gotten sick of Cam and Vala's argument and volunteered to take the first shift with the monitor. He had brought it to his office, intending to start translating from the video footage he'd gotten of some ruins on a trip from earlier that week, and Vala had joined him, as usual.

When a sudden wail emanated from the baby monitor they both jumped, Daniel hitting his knee painfully on his desk. He looked at Vala, feeling slightly panicked, but she just shrugged, her eyes wide. Without a word, they both jumped up and Daniel ran down the hall to the little boy's room and threw it open, thinking the little guy was sick or hurt. He flipped on the light, his eyes focused on the bed. The toddler was sitting up, the sheets tangled around his legs, and crying forlornly, the word "Mama" interspersed between cries. The sudden light startled him for a moment and his wails faltered as his hands came up to shield his eyes, but he soon began screaming with renewed earnest. Daniel stood in the doorway, completely unsure of what he should do, wanting to help the little boy but not sure what was wrong.

"Daniel," Vala said from behind him. "Do something!" She gave him a not so gentle prod in the small of his back.

He glanced back at her. "What does he want?"

She gave him a familiar look of unconcealed impatience. "Well, _I_ certainly don't know."

Daniel squared his shoulders and turned back to the screaming toddler. He approached the bed in the same manner in which he would approach a bomb, stepping carefully and cautiously, his hands held out in front of him, palms outward. As he neared the bed, the little boy screamed louder and leaned forward to bury his face in the covers. Any bit of confidence Daniel may have possessed quickly fled and he threw a desperate glance back at Vala, pleading for someone else to take control of the situation. Of course, he knew it was unlikely anyone would be willing to take care of a screaming toddler this late, and besides, it was his shift.

Vala made a little waving motion with her hands, encouraging him to continue. Wincing, Daniel put his hands under the little boy's arms and lifted him off the bed. The toddler screamed even louder and started flailing around so that Daniel almost dropped him. He brought the little boy close to his chest and tried to calm him by holding him tightly, but the little boy didn't think much of the idea and struggled harder.

"He doesn't want me to hold him!" Daniel said, still trying to keep a hold of the boy.

Vala bit her lip and came into the room. "Let me try," she said hesitantly.

Daniel was surprised, but handed the toddler to her. She started bouncing him up and down in her arms and swaying a little, rubbing his back through the oversized black t-shirt he'd been dressed in. The screams started to quiet, and the little boy began to relax against her, mostly out of exhaustion. Vala met Daniel's eyes over the little boy's head and shrugged, still rocking him.

Daniel couldn't help but feel a little pang of jealousy at the apparent ease in which Vala was able to comfort the little boy, but suddenly, the toddler turned his head to look at Daniel and to his surprise, leaned out of Vala's arms and held out his hands toward him. Almost without thinking about it, Daniel took him and began rubbing his back the way Vala had, even bouncing him, surprised at how natural it felt, even though he felt a little dumb doing it. The toddler quieted and dropped his head down to Daniel's shoulder, now only sniffing and giving little hiccuping sobs every now and then.

"There you go, buddy," Daniel whispered, trying to crane his neck so he could see the little boy's face. The toddler just snuggled into his neck and yawned, Daniel feeling his whole little body shudder. Daniel let out a slow breath, suddenly realizing that every muscle in his body had been tensed. He forced himself to relax, exchanging a relieved glance with Vala.

He was just about to try laying the little boy back down on the bed when he raised his head off Daniel's shoulder, a funny look on his face. "What's the matt-" Daniel started to say just as the little boy threw up all over him. Everyone froze for a moment, Daniel looking at his shirt in horror, and Vala staring at him with her mouth open. Then the little boy started to cry again, understandably upset by the event. His wails sprung Daniel into action and he thrust the boy away from him towards Vala, his patience coming to a rapid halt.

"Daniel-"

"Take him!" Daniel said, definitely desperate now.

With a grimace, Vala took the screaming toddler, holding him at arms length in case he threw up again. Daniel left the room without another word, presumably to get into a fresh shirt, but by the look on his face, Vala had to wonder if he was considering something drastic, like jumping in front of a fast-moving bus or something.

She supposed she ought to take the little guy to the infirmary, but she was starting to feel like she was carrying a bomb around. Who knew when he would go off again? Regardless, her arms were getting tired so she brought him closer so she could settle him on her hip, checking him over carefully for signs of vomit. "Well," she said to herself. "Looks like you got it all on Daniel. I suppose that's good in a way."

Sighing, she carried the little boy out of the room and down the hall. As they approached the infirmary, Lieutenant North ran out into the hallway, clearly under the impression that someone was being murdered. When she saw Vala holding the screaming little boy, she rushed to them and started looking the toddler over for injuries.

"Is he hurt?" the nurse asked, seeing no visible signs of trauma.

"He threw up," Vala said, frowning and wrinkling her nose at the memory. She tried to hand the little boy off to the nurse, getting more nervous by the second that he would puke again, this time all over her, but the nurse just waved her inside the infirmary and told her to put the boy on one of the beds. Fortunately, it was a quiet night and no other patients were in the infirmary, because it didn't look like the kid was going to stop screaming anytime soon. When Vala tried to put him down on a bed, he clung to her shirt and screamed louder. Vala was even able to pick out the words "no down, no down!" amidst the screams. She looked at the nurse helplessly as the little boy continued to scream and hang on to her.

"Okay, go ahead and just hold him while I examine him," the nurse said. Vala nodded and the nurse turned to the little boy. Vala sat uneasily on one of the beds with the toddler, still trying to hold him away from her in case he was planning on throwing up again, but the little boy seemed to be calming down.

"So, what happened exactly?" the nurse asked, getting the thermometer.

"Um, well . . . we heard him crying and we went in and I had just gotten him calmed down and he just puked all of a sudden," Vala said, absently rubbing the little boy's back. His cries were simmering down to whimpers and he snuggled into her.

"Where's Dr Jackson?" the nurse asked, holding the little boy's head still as she put the thermometer in his ear. The toddler was too exhausted to resist, but he started sobbing again and tried to bury his face in Vala's shirt.

"He was . . . in the line of fire," Vala said, not quite stopping a small smile from coming to her face at the thought that Daniel would probably rather be in the line of fire that involved bullets or energy blasts.

"Ah," the nurse said, also failing to look unamused. "Well, it looks like he doesn't have a fever. Do you know what he's eaten recently?"

Vala shook her head. "They just brought him through the gate a few hours ago and I have no idea what he's eaten since then."

The little boy suddenly pulled away from Vala and looked at her. "No!" he said emphatically, though the effect was lessened as his thumb was still in his mouth.

"No what?" Vala said, surprised.

The little boy traced a large circle in the air with his finger. "No bwue."

Vala had no idea what he was talking about. "Um . . ."

"No bwue, no bwue!" the little boy said, taking his thumb out of his mouth to gesture with both hands, a slightly panicked look on his face.

Vala was afraid he would start crying again so she quickly agreed with him. "Okay, no bwue."

This seemed to satisfy the little boy and he put his thumb back in his mouth and cuddled up to Vala again.

"Any idea what he's talking about?" the nurse asked, looking at the little boy with a puzzled expression.

Vala started to shrug but then something clicked in her head and she smiled. "I think he meant the Stargate. He didn't want to go through it again." She felt a sudden, profound sense of accomplishment. Daniel wasn't the only one with translating skills.

Lieutenant North chuckled softly. "Poor little guy. Well, I don't think he's sick. My guess is he just cried so hard he made himself throw up. My niece used to do that all the time." The nurse stroked his head gently.

Vala looked at her sharply. "All the time?"

The nurse made an apologetic face and shrugged. "Well, she was kind of brat and I think sometimes she did it on purpose, but . . ."

Vala looked between the nurse and the little boy in her arms rapidly. "All the time? On purpose?" She started to swear but remembered there was a child sucking his thumb on her lap. Speaking of which, her lap was starting to feel awfully warm . . . she shrieked and jumped up, shoving the toddler into the nurse's arm. "He peed on me!"

The little boy started crying again, though at least it hadn't escalated to the piercing screams of earlier. The nurse looked at Vala and could just make out a small wet spot on her pants. "When was the last time someone changed his diaper?"

Vala was kind of dancing around, trying to think of a way to clean herself up without actually touching the spot. "Change his _what?_"

The nurse stared at her. "You do know you have to change little kid's diapers right?" Vala's behavior was making the little boy more upset and the nurse was trying to keep him calm.

"He _peed_ on me!" Vala cried desperately.

The nurse sighed in frustration. "Just a little bit. His diaper leaked because no one's bothered to change him! Where are his diapers?" she asked, rocking the little boy and rubbing his back.

"I have no idea!" Vala said, equally frustrated.

"Let's go look in his room," the nurse said, walking out of the infirmary trying to find a way to hold the little boy so that he wouldn't leak on her too. Vala grabbed a pair of scrub pants from the infirmary and followed, pinching the cloth of her pants above the spot and trying to hold the wet part off her skin. They made it to the guest room, and the nurse's eyes swept the room, finally landing on the large package of diapers the "away team" had brought in earlier in the day.

The nurse plopped the crying toddler on the bed and changed the diaper with rapid proficiency, despite the little boy's attempts to roll over and escape, and picked him back up, trying to calm him back down. The little boy wouldn't have it though. He struggled against the nurse and held his hands out for Vala. By this time, Vala had changed into the pants from the infirmary and took the boy back a little reluctantly. The toddler was exhausted and immediately dropped his head down to Vala's shoulder and put his thumb in his mouth, his eyes already closing. Vala looked up at Lieutenant North, surprised with the way the boy had reacted to her, and the nurse just shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't think he's actually sick, but keep an eye on him and bring him back if he throws up again," the nurse said. Vala closed her eyes, pleading with whoever might be listening that the kid wouldn't puke again. She opened her eyes to find that the nurse was giving her a rather severe look. "Make sure Dr. Jackson knows he has to change the poor kid's diaper once in a while will you?" Vala nodded in agreement and gave the nurse her best "good girl" smile. The nurse looked troubled. "In fact, you might want to find someone to take care of him who actually knows what they're doing."

The smile fell from Vala's face. "Daniel is perfectly capable of caring for him!" she said a little too loudly, not really noticing that Lieutenant North was assuming the little boy was only going to be Daniel's responsibility.

The nurse looked doubtful. "It's my job to help take care of everyone on this base. I'm just trying to make sure he's going to be all right!"

Vala hugged the little boy closer. "Well you can't have him!" she said a little childishly. "He's Daniel's!" She didn't notice that she had just called the child Daniel's, even though that was highly unlikely. It was easy to forget when the kid looked so much like him.

The nurse let out a sigh and shook her head. "Fine. I just hope Dr. Jackson figures out how to take care of him." The nurse stalked from the room, leaving the door open. She hesitated for a minute, and Vala saw her nod sharply at someone and then continue down the hall. As she moved off, Vala caught sight of Daniel. She hadn't seen him before because he was sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall, his glasses pushed up on top of his head and his fists covering his eyes.

Vala bit her lip, not sure what to do. She was afraid to put the little boy back in bed because she felt certain he'd wake up and cry again, but she wanted to go talk to Daniel too. Finally, she sighed and carried the little boy out into the hall with her, sitting on the floor next to Daniel.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the little boy sucking his thumb. Then Vala spoke. "Did you hear any of that?" she asked.

"Enough," Daniel said without looking up.

Vala frowned. She wanted to hug him and tell him what the nurse said wasn't true. Of course Daniel could take care of one little boy. The problem was, she had said sleeping little boy in her arms, so she settled with scooting closer to him so that their shoulders touched. "She's wrong Daniel," she said.

To her surprise, he didn't move away from her or shrug her off. He just sighed deeply and leaned his head back against the cement wall. "You're wrong too, you know. He's not mine."

Vala looked up at his face. His eyes were closed, but the muscles around his eyes were still tense, betraying his frustration and worry. She resisted the temptation to smooth the lines with her finger, but lightly touched his arm. "Stranger things have happened, Daniel."

He opened his eyes and looked at her without moving his head. "You don't actually think he could be my kid do you?"

She shrugged. "It's _possible_ isn't it?"

He slid his glasses back onto his face. "No, it's not, Vala," he said angrily.

She snatched her hand from his face, surprised by the venom in his voice. "Daniel-"

He moved away from her suddenly and stood up. "Not tonight, Vala, please? Just . . . give me the kid and go to bed."

His words stung, and she stood to face him, pushing off the wall. "Daniel, I was just saying-" The little boy in her arms shifted and whimpered a little.

"You're going to wake him up again!" Daniel said, a note of panic surfacing in his voice.

"No I'm not, Daniel." She looked down at the sleeping boy nestled against her and felt a sudden surge of affection bubble up through her chest, even though the tiny boy had thrown up all over Daniel and peed on her. She looked back up at Daniel, expecting him to still be angry, but she was surprised to see he was wearing his thinking frown again and staring at the little boy.

"Daniel?" she asked cautiously.

He just shook his head and held out his arms for the little boy. She carefully transferred him to Daniel's arms and followed him back into the guest room. She stopped just inside the door and watched as Daniel sat on the edge of the bed and slowly laid the little boy down. The toddler whimpered and for a moment, it looked like he was going to wake up, but Daniel pulled the covers up around him snugly and the little boy sighed and turned on his stomach, snuggling down into the pillow and popping his thumb back in his mouth.

Vala waited for Daniel to stand up and leave the room, but he stayed seated on the bed, one hand absently resting on the little boy's back. Vala came a few steps forward and looked at the sleeping boy too, feeling that sudden surge of affection again for a child she didn't even know, who had _peed_ on her. The feeling confused her, and as she glanced at Daniel's face, she could tell he was experiencing similar confusion.

"Hey," came a sudden voice from the doorway.

Daniel and Vala both looked over their shoulders and put a finger to their mouths.

Cam backed up a step and held up his hands in surrender, a slightly amused smile on his face. "Okay, okay. Geez."

Snapped out of their silent contemplations, Daniel and Vala came out of the room, Daniel closing the door carefully behind him. "Is it time to switch already?" Daniel asked, glancing at his watch with a frown. It was almost midnight.

"Yup. Couldn't find you in the lab so . . ." Cam shrugged. "Everything okay?"

Daniel and Vala exchanged a quick glance. "Well, besides the part where Daniel got puked on and I got peed on, everything's fine," Vala said brightly.

Cam raised his eyebrows. "Are you serious? He threw up?"

Daniel frowned. "Yeah, and he has really good aim."

Cam stifled a laugh, clapping a hand over his mouth. "I'm glad you took the first shift, Jackson."

Daniel's frown deepened. "I'm going to bed." He brushed past them and headed down the hall to his quarters.

"What's with him today?" Cam asked, turning to Vala.

She shrugged. "I guess it has something to do with being puked on in the middle of the night. Come on, the baby monitor is in his office."


	3. Introductions

Daniel finally gave up trying to sleep around two in the morning. His thoughts kept chasing each other around in circles, trying to find that one little part of his memory that had been bugging him all night. He was missing something, he knew it, and it was driving him crazy.

He threw back his sheets, frustrated because he had a feeling he was going to need all the sleep he could get in the coming day, and padded barefoot across his room. He opened the door and stepped into the hallway, wincing as his feet came in contact with the cold cement floor. He started to head for the commissary but a faint sound caught his attention. He changed direction and walked toward the infirmary, the sound growing louder. By the time he came around the corner, he could confirm the sound of crying. He hesitated for a moment, it wasn't his shift anymore after all, but he wasn't sleeping anyway so he mine as well give Cam a hand. With a sigh, he quickened his pace, passing the open door of the guest room and continuing to the infirmary.

He looked in with trepidation, and saw Cam sitting on one of the beds, the little boy in his lap. The kid was screaming again, and Daniel was once again able to pick out the word "Mama" being thrown in amongst the screams. Cam was looking a little panicked, and was trying to hold the little boy still while Lieutenant North took his temperature.

Daniel stepped into the room unnoticed as both the other adults were focused on the little boy. But as he came closer, Cam caught the movement and looked up. The nurse gave up on taking the little boy's temperature for the moment and looked at him too.

"Hey, look, buddy!" Cam said, trying to distract the crying child in his lap. "It's your pal Daniel!"

When the little boy saw Daniel, he held out his hands toward the somewhat familiar face. Daniel picked him up and the little boy quieted and dropped his head onto Daniel's shoulder, whimpering and sticking his thumb in his mouth.

Cam looked at him, surprise evident on his face at the child's reaction to Daniel. Daniel just shrugged and patted the little boy's back awkwardly.

"Did he . . ."

"Yep," Cam confirmed. "He puked again. But luckily, by the time I got to his room, he'd already puked all over his bed, not me."

Lieutenant North looked at Daniel. "The first time I thought it was just from crying so much, but now I have to conclude he's either picked up some bug or he ate something that he's not used to. It's pretty hard to tell, so you're just going to have to watch him and hope it doesn't last long."

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long night. The little boy suddenly lifted his head off Daniel's shoulder and looked at him. Daniel noticed that the little boy's eyes were a deep blue, and the moisture left behind from his tears still coated his long eyelashes. Afraid the little boy was about to throw up again, Daniel prepared to turn him away from his shirt, but he said something. It was very quiet and obscured by the thumb in the little boy's mouth, and Daniel didn't quite understand him.

"What?" he asked.

The little boy tried again, but with the thumb in his mouth, it just wasn't understandable. Daniel reached up and gently pulled his thumb out. "Try that," he said, watching the child's face.

"Where Mama go?" the little boy said, much clearer this time.

Daniel had no idea how to answer that question, but Cam came to the rescue. He hopped off the bed and looked into the little boy's face.

"Hey buddy, I know you're scared, but we're going to have a lot of fun, okay? We're gonna be your new friends!" Cam put a surprising amount of enthusiasm into his voice, talking a little bit higher than his normal speaking voice. Daniel looked at him with raised eyebrows, and Cam just shrugged and returned his attention to the little boy.

"Efan," the little boy said after a minute.

Neither Daniel nor Cam could figure out what he was saying until the little boy poked his own chest emphatically. "Efan! Efan!"

Cam looked back at Daniel. "The general said his name was Ethaneas, right?"

Daniel nodded, finally understanding. "Did your mom call you Ethan?"

"Efan. No buddy," the little boy said, casting an accusing glance at Cam.

Cam chuckled. "Sorry. Ethan it is."

The little boy turned to Daniel expectantly. "You?" he asked, his blue eyes wide and curious.

"Oh, um, my name's Daniel," he said, guessing what the little boy wanted.

"Dano," Ethan tried.

"Close," Daniel said. He couldn't help smiling at the little boy's attempt at his name.

Ethan turned back to Cam and pointed a finger at him. "You?"

Cam grinned at him. "I'm Cam," he supplied.

"Cam," Ethan said. Cam's name was much easier. The little boy turned back to Daniel. "Where Mama go?" he asked again.

Daniel sighed. "You're going to be staying with us for a while, okay Ethan? Your mom wanted you to come here."

The little boy studied Daniel's face for a minute, his thumb going back in his mouth. "Pway?" he said.

"Um, I don't think we're going to play right now. How about you go back to sleep?" Daniel said hopefully.

"Cam pway?" Ethan said around his thumb, looking at his other new friend.

Cam smiled at him. "It's really late, Ethan. Let's go back to your room and Daniel can tell you a story, okay?"

Daniel cast a quick glare at Cam. Now he was going to have to tell the kid a story. Another, bigger problem suddenly hit him. "Uh, Cam, isn't his bed still covered in puke?"

"Oh shi . . . shoot," Cam said, quickly avoiding the swear-word in front of the little boy. "I guess we better go take care of that."

They left the infirmary, bidding good night to Lieutenant North once again, who reminded Daniel that he had to change Ethan's diaper once in a while. As they came out of the doorway, they almost ran into Sam and Vala.

"There you are!" Sam said with relief. "We, um, saw the room and guessed we'd find you here."

"Nice pajamas, Daniel," Vala said with a grin.

Daniel knew it was supposed to be Sam's shift next, but that didn't explain what Vala was doing here. "Vala, I thought you went to bed," he said, annoyed.

"I thought _you_ went to bed," she countered.

"Dano!" Ethan interrupted, bouncing a little in his arms.

Daniel turned his head to look at the little boy. "What?"

The little boy just pointed at Sam and Vala.

"He wants to know your names," Cam clarified, recognizing the little boy's gesture.

Vala smiled at Ethan. "I'm Vala," she said brightly, captivated by the little boy's large blue eyes.

"Vawa," Ethan tried.

"No, no, _Vala,_" she said again.

"Vawa."

"It's okay, buddy, that's a hard one," Cam said, enjoying the fact that his name was the only one the Ethan could say properly.

The little boy turned his attention to Sam. "My name's Sam," she told him.

"Fam," Ethan said.

"Good try," Sam said with a smile.

"All right team, let's go get his room cleaned up and see if we can get him to go back to s-l-e-e-p," Cam said, starting down the hallway.

As it turned out, Sam and Cam did most of the cleaning up as Vala threatened that _she_ was going to throw up if she had to go into the room, and Daniel wasn't much help as Ethan didn't seem to want to let go of him.

They finally finished, but even when they'd taken the sheets and blanket to the laundry room, the room still smelled horrible.

"We can't let him sleep in there," Sam said after numerous attempts to make the room smell better. They were all standing out in the hall, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do with the kid now.

Daniel sighed and looked at the little boy in his arms, who didn't seem all that sleepy anyway. "I'll take him to my room for tonight," he said resignedly.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "I'm sure we could use another guest room."

Daniel was about to reply that the little boy was probably just going to wake up again and he might as well be there, when Teal'c came around the corner.

"The gang's all here," Cam announced. "Your shift's not for another couple of hours, Teal'c."

Teal'c inclined his head slightly. "I thought extra help might be needed as it is now morning on P4X31, and the child will likely no longer wish to sleep."

The rest of SG-1 looked at each other. Teal'c was right. It was morning on P4X31 by now and Ethan would be used to waking up. The little boy, who had been resting his head on Daniel's shoulder, raised his head to look at Teal'c and his thumb went in his mouth. "Big!"

Cam chuckled. "That's Teal'c, Ethan. He's going to be your friend too," he explained to the little boy.

Ethan was clearly still nervous of the large jaffa, and didn't try to repeat the new name, just put his head back on Daniel's shoulder.

"He _has_ had a long night," Vala said. "Maybe he'll want to sleep more after all."

Daniel looked at the little boy. He looked tired, but his eyes were still wide open, watching Teal'c's every move. Maybe with less people around he could get the kid to go back to sleep. "I'm going to take him to my room and try and get him to sleep a little more," he decided.

"Good luck, Jackson," Cam said, clapping Daniel on the back. "I'm gonna go get some rest myself."

"I'm just down the hall if you need anything," Sam said, heading toward her own quarters.

"I, too, will be ready to render assistance," Teal'c said, inclining his head.

"Don't come get me, Daniel," Vala said. "I'll be sound asleep."

Daniel bid his team goodnight and started walking back down the hall with Ethan, hoping that the little boy wouldn't need to puke again.

"Ethan, do you feel sick?" Daniel asked cautiously. He felt the little boy nod against his shoulder. "Great," he muttered. "Is it your stomach?" He felt Ethan nod again. Daniel began to feel slightly panicked again. "Tell me if you're going to throw up again, okay?" he said, not sure if that would work at all.

"Frow up?" the little boy said lifting his head off Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel stopped walking and looked closely at Ethan. "Are you going to throw up right now?"

Ethan just looked at him, a miserable expression on his small face. Daniel sighed and continued down the hall, and Ethan put his head back down on his shoulder.

Daniel was having second thoughts about taking Ethan to his room. If the kid threw up again, his room would stink too and then where would they go? He had a sudden idea and headed back toward the infirmary.

Lieutenant North looked surprised to see them. "Again?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I just thought it might be good to have something to . . . catch future incidents," Daniel said, gesturing vaguely.

"Frow up," Ethan said solemnly from Daniel's shoulder.

The nurse found a plastic basin that Daniel could take back to his quarters and reminded him again to change Ethan's diaper as they left the infirmary.

Daniel gritted his teeth. _If that woman tells me that one more time . . ._ he thought. He did stop by the guest room and grab the package of diapers and baby wipes, though. He carried Ethan, who was starting to get heavy, back to his room and turned on the lamp, keeping the room mostly dark.

"Okay, Ethan," Daniel said, dropping the diapers in the corner and sitting on the bed, the plastic basin next to him. "Are you tired?"

Ethan sat up in his lap and looked at Daniel with his wide blue eyes. "No sweep," he said.

Daniel groaned internally. "Look, it's dark though," he said, hoping it would sound more logical than it was.

"No sweep!" Ethan repeated emphatically.

Daniel was at a loss. Why hadn't he let one of his other team members take the kid? All of them had more experience with kids than he did. Well, not really Vala, but she was technically a mother. "Um . . . how about I tell you a story?" he said, remembering Cam's suggestion.

The little boy nodded and Daniel sat him on the bed, laying down next to him. "Oh, and Ethan? If you need to throw up again, throw up in the bucket, okay?"

Ethan just looked at him, and Daniel had no idea whether or not he understood. He would just have to watch for that strange face the kid made right before he puked.

Daniel sighed and settled his hands behind the back of his head, trying to think of a story that a toddler would enjoy. The more he thought about it, he had quite a lot of material to choose from. Everything from the wide array of mythology he was familiar with to the many missions he'd been on with SG-1. He finally settled on the story of young King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.

Not long into the story, Ethan curled up next to Daniel, resting his head on Daniel's chest. Daniel felt the little boy yawn, and smiled, bringing one arm down to wrap securely around the small body.

By the time he finished the story, the little boy was sound asleep. Daniel didn't want to move him in case he woke up again, but with some careful maneuvering, he managed to get the blankets around both of them. He couldn't quite reach the lamp, but he figured it would be nice to have some light if Ethan needed to throw up again anyway.

Daniel relaxed back into his pillow and looked at the little boy curled up next to him. He had to admit to himself that it was rather pleasant to hold a sleeping child. He suddenly realized that if all went well, the little boy would be going back to his own planet in a few hours and Daniel would likely never see him again. He hugged the little boy tighter, saddened by the thought. Sighing again, he stared at the ceiling and let his thoughts play tag with each other around his head, giving up on getting any more sleep that night.


	4. Good Morning, Sunshine

Okay, so I know it's been a HUGE wait. My only excuse (and it's a lame one, I know) is that my brother got Beatles Rock Band for his birthday and that's what most of my free time has been devoted to. Many apologies.

* * *

Daniel awoke when the weight lifted off his chest. Blinking, he looked around, disoriented. He squinted in the light of the lamp and realized he'd left his glasses on. Then he looked at Ethan who had sat up and was looking at Daniel with a trembling chin.

Daniel sat up and drew the boy onto his lap. "You okay, Ethan?" he asked gently.

The little boy shook his head, wrapping both arms around his midsection.

_Here it comes, _Daniel thought, watching the toddler for the puking face. "If you need to throw up, throw up in here, remember?" Daniel said, reaching for the basin.

The little boy suddenly began to cry. "Want Mama," he said.

Ethan's sobs and the simple sentence made Daniel ache. He wanted to ease both the little boy's physical and emotional pain, but he just didn't know how. He hugged the little boy and rubbed his back. "Shh, it's okay, Ethan. It's okay." He couldn't think of anything else to say so he just kept repeating the same thing. Ethan's sobs slowed gradually and he cuddled into Daniel's chest, smearing his t-shirt with tears and snot.

Suddenly, Ethan lifted his head and looked at Daniel. "Frow up," he announced.

Daniel recognized the face and grabbed the basin and put it under Ethan's chin just in time to catch the next wave of puke. The little boy started to cry again, but Daniel had to clean out the basin before he could do much else. He shifted Ethan off his lap and put the basin on the floor, and then grabbed one of the baby wipes to clean off the little boy's face. He had intended to leave Ethan here for a couple minutes while he rinsed out the basin in the bathroom down the hall, but the little boy was crying and hanging onto his shirt, so Daniel picked him up again, trying to calm him down.

Daniel didn't want to attempt carrying the little boy and the basin down the hall, so once Ethan had calmed down, he tried to put the little boy down. Ethan started crying again and Daniel crouched down in front of him.

"Ethan, I have to go get this cleaned up and I can't carry you," Daniel tried to explain.

"No!" Ethan cried, trying to climb into Daniel's arms.

Daniel put his hands on the little boy's shoulders, holding him still. "Ethan, I can't carry you right now."

The little boy collapsed dramatically to the floor, burying his face in his arms. "Want Mama!" he cried, his voice muffled.

Daniel wondered if he could just leave Ethan there for a couple of minutes while he rinsed out the basin, but that seemed irresponsible and he couldn't just leave the kid crying on the floor.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up and saw Sam coming into the room. Relief flooded through him.

"Sam! Can you watch him for a minute?" Daniel asked, looking toward the plastic basin still sitting on the floor.

"Sure," Sam said. She looked a little bewildered but came to crouch next to Ethan, laying a gentle hand on his back.

"I'll be right back," Daniel said. Then he took a deep breath and held it, hoping he wouldn't have to breath until he'd emptied the basin. He exchanged encouraging glances with Sam and headed out into the hall, holding the basin at arm's length. He managed to get to the bathroom and dump the contents down the toilet and rinse it out in the sink without breathing too much of the smell. He washed the basin out, sure he was going to need it again, and headed back down the hall. He could hear Ethan still crying from all the way down the hall and quickened his pace.

He paused in the doorway of his room. Sam was sitting on the floor trying to prevent a very upset Ethan from running out into the hallway.

"Ethan, it's okay!" Sam said. "Daniel will be right back!"

Daniel's heart warmed at the thought that Ethan wanted him to come back. He stepped forward so they could see him and Sam let go of the little boy who ran to Daniel. Daniel picked him up and Ethan hugged him around the neck tightly.

"Thanks, Sam," he said, giving her a hand up.

"No problem. He really likes you, Daniel," she said with a slightly amused smile. Ethan was already cuddled back into Daniel's shoulder, his thumb in his mouth.

Daniel shrugged but couldn't stop a faint smile from appearing on his own face. "I can't figure out _why_," he said.

Sam patted his shoulder. "Not that I have a lot of experience, but if my brother's kids are any indication, kids are weird."

While Daniel was deciding whether or not that was a good thing, Ethan lifted his head off his shoulder. "Pway?" he asked around his thumb.

Daniel glanced at the clock. Five AM, great. "Don't you want to sleep a little bit more?"

"No sweep!" Ethan said, even taking the thumb out of his mouth to make his point clear.

"Want me to tell you a story again?" Daniel asked, hoping that tactic would work again.

"Pway!" Ethan repeated firmly.

Daniel looked toward Sam for help, but she just shrugged. "It's almost nine o'clock on his planet."

Daniel groaned softly. "I'm going to need some coffee," he said.

Sam smiled. "Me too. Let's take Ethan to the commissary and see if he can keep some Jello or something down. He could probably use some fluids."

Daniel sighed resignedly and looked at the little boy in his arms. "Okay. I'm going to get dressed."

Sam looked at Ethan who was still in the large t-shirt he'd been using for pajamas. "Do you know if anyone brought something for him to wear?"

Daniel shook his head. "All I've found so far are the diapers."

"I'll go do a quick inventory of his room and meet you back here," Sam said, shutting the door on her way out.

Daniel grabbed his BDU's from the small chest of drawers in the room and tried to put Ethan down on the bed so he could get dressed.

"Noooo!" the little boy wailed, grabbing Daniel's t-shirt tightly in both his little fists.

"This is going to get old really fast," Daniel muttered. "Ethan, I have to put my clothes on," he said, frustration leaking through his words.

"No down!"

Daniel sighed heavily and peeled the little boy off of him and plopped him down on the bed. Ethan looked up at him, his eyes filling with tears and his lip trembling. "Want Mama," he said just before bursting into tears.

Daniel dressed as quickly as possible and picked Ethan up again, rubbing his back. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I can't hold you all the time though, okay?"

The little boy gripped his BDU jacket tightly and hid his face in Daniel's neck. "No down!"

Daniel was about to explain again, but someone knocked on the door. He opened it and found Sam standing in the hallway with a pair of pants and a t-shirt for Ethan.

"I couldn't find any shoes or socks," she said. "But these should work."

Daniel stood aside so she could come in and took the clothes from her with his free hand. "Do you think I should change his diaper?" Daniel asked reluctantly.

"Better safe than sorry," Sam said.

He looked at her. "That doesn't really answer my question."

She smiled. "I guess I can do it if you really don't want to."

"Um . . . well, I have no idea how, so . . ." Daniel looked at her helplessly.

"Actually, neither do I," Sam said, gazing at Ethan. "Do you think Lieutenant North-"

"I really don't want to bother her again," Daniel broke in, thinking of the disgusted look she would give him if he admitted he didn't know how to change a diaper.

"Who else would know how to change a diaper that would be here at five in the morning?" Sam asked.

Daniel knew the answer. No one. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

Sam shrugged. "Won't know until we try, I guess."

Daniel laid the clean pair of clothes on the bed and got a diaper out of the large package. He tried to lay Ethan down on the bed, but once again, the little boy grabbed onto his shirt and wouldn't let go.

"No down! No down!" he screamed.

Daniel took a deep breath. "Ethan, I'm right here, okay? We just need to change your diaper!"

"No down!"

Daniel looked toward Sam for help. "Hey Ethan, if you're good and let us change you diaper, we can go get a treat," she tried.

He shook his head stubbornly. "Dano!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Ethan," Daniel said, frustrated.

Ethan's eyes filled with tears, sensing Daniel's frustration with him. "No down," he said, lip trembling.

"C'mon, Ethan, please? Just for a minute?" The little boy shook his head and renewed his grip on Daniel's shirt. Daniel sighed heavily. "Um . . . let's just get it over with," he finally said, looking at Sam.

She nodded. "Right."

Daniel forcibly removed Ethan's grip from his shirt and laid him on the bed. The little boy immediately began crying and kicking his legs, trying to roll over and climb into Daniel's arms again. Daniel put a hand on his small chest, holding him down, while Sam tried to get past his flailing legs to get the old diaper off.

"Ethan! I'm right here, buddy!" Daniel said, practically shouting over the noise the little boy was making.

Sam managed to get the sopping wet diaper off him and was working on unfolding the clean one, when they heard a loud knock. Both Daniel and Sam looked up to find a very amused General O'Neill in the doorway.

"Hey, kids," he said with a grin.

"Little busy right now, Jack," Daniel said, turning his attention back to trying to hold the screaming toddler still.

Jack laughed out loud and stepped into the room. "I'll take that, Carter," he said grabbing the diaper from Sam and managing to get it strapped onto the little boy. As soon as he finished, Daniel picked him up again and the little boy stopped crying.

"Thank you, sir," Sam said, flashing a grin at him.

He grinned back. "So, there something you two aren't telling me?" he teased.

"Very funny, Jack," Daniel said. Ethan had calmed down and had one thumb back in his mouth, the other one gripping Daniel's shirt again.

"What are you doing here, sir?" Sam asked.

"You know, I am retired now," he said, raising his eyebrows at her. "You don't have to call me sir."

"You still call me Carter," she countered. They both grinned at each other for a minute.

"What _are_ you doing here, Jack?" Daniel finally asked.

Jack cleared his throat and looked away from Sam. "A guy can't stop by every now and again to see his friends?"

"At five in the morning?" Daniel asked sceptically.

Jack shrugged.

"The general told you about . . . the situation, didn't he?" Sam asked, still smiling at him.

"Okay, okay, so I was curious," he admitted. "And you have to admit, Dannyboy, he looks just like you."

"We've already been down that road, Jack," Daniel said wearily.

"Dack," Ethan said suddenly.

Daniel looked down at him. "What?"

"Dack?" he repeated, pointing at Jack.

Daniel smiled. "Yeah, that's Jack," he answered.

Jack grinned and stepped toward the little boy. "And what's your name, pal?" he asked.

"Efan," the little boy said, even taking his thumb out of his mouth to introduce himself.

Jack looked at Daniel. "What?"

"Ethan. His full name is Ethaneas, but that's kind of a mouthful."

Jack turned his attention back to the toddler. "Ethan, huh? Pleased to meetcha!" He took one of Ethan's hands in his own and shook it up and down.

Ethan grinned. "Dack!" he repeated.

"Since he's so taken with you, Jack, you can get him dressed," Daniel said, feeling a ridiculous surge of jealousy at how much Ethan seemed to like Jack.

Jack raised his eyebrows, but held out his hands to the little boy. Ethan leaned into Daniel, a little frown on his face and Daniel barely managed to keep a smug smile off his.

"He doesn't like me _that_ much, apparently," Jack said, amused.

Daniel sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the clothes for Ethan. He didn't dare put the little boy down again, so he dressed him in the little cargo pants and t-shirt Sam had found while the toddler was still seated in his lap. It was a little awkward, but Ethan cooperated for the most part, even though the clothes must feel strange to him. From what Daniel remembered, kids his age on his planet ran around in little more than a loin cloth.

Sam and Jack were chatting in the doorway, and he stood up and joined them. Sam turned to look at Ethan and grinned at him, her eyes sparkling.

"That's so cute!" she blurted, then blushed a little at the outburst.

Jack looked at the little boy and chuckled. "Did you read the shirt, Daniel?"

Daniel frowned and looked down at Ethan. Printed in bold letters across the dark green shirt were the words "Property of the US Air Force." Daniel couldn't help but smile.

Ethan saw that everyone was looking at his shirt and looked down, tracing the lettering with his fingers. "Say," he said, looking back up at Daniel.

"You want to know what it says?" Daniel asked with surprise.

"Say!" Ethan repeated.

"It says "'Property of the US Air Force,'" Daniel said, another smile creeping across his face.

Ethan looked down and studied his shirt, then turned and looked at Daniel's chest, pulling back his BDU jacket. He looked up with a frown. "All gone!" he exclaimed.

Jack and Sam burst into laughter. "Daniel, I am so getting you a t-shirt that says that," Sam said, still giggling.

Daniel rolled his eyes but grinned at Ethan's confusion. The little boy looked closely at Jack and Sam as well, and seeing their shirts also lacked writing, he repeated his earlier statement in resignation. "All gone."

After the second round of giggles, Daniel remembered their original purpose in getting Ethan ready for the day. "Are we going to go get coffee, or what?" he said.

"Want to join us, sir?" Sam said stepping, out into the hallway.

"Of course," Jack said with a grin. "I wouldn't ever forgive myself if I missed the opportunity to watch Daniel trying to feed a toddler."


	5. Congratulations

The commissary was mostly empty at that time in the morning. The few people that were there gave the little group curious looks as they entered. They were apparently not used to seeing Daniel carrying around a toddler. Daniel ignored the curious looks, but Ethan stared around with unconcealed wonder at the new people and food as they lined up.

"Dat?" he asked, stabbing his little finger toward the trays of brightly-colored Jello.

"Did he just say 'zat'?" Jack asked, looking over his shoulder at the little boy.

"I think he's saying 'that,'" Daniel said.

"Dat! Dat!" Ethan repeated emphatically.

"It's Jello," Sam told him. "You want to try some?"

The little boy nodded and Sam put two dishes of Jello on her tray. Jack grabbed a couple donuts, and they each got a cup of coffee. When Daniel picked up his, Ethan reached for it curiously, and Daniel jerked the hot coffee out of his reach, the liquid sloshing over the side and burning his hand. He cursed under his breath and set the cup down the closest table, grabbing a handful of napkins. Sam set her tray down and came over to help.

As Daniel was trying to wipe off the cup with one hand, he heard a small sound and looked at Ethan. The little boy's eyes were filled with tears and his lip was trembling. Daniel put down the napkins and looked at the toddler.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Dano mad," Ethan said, two fat tears leaking down his cheeks.

Daniel's stomach dropped. "No, Ethan, I'm not mad," he said, trying to sound reassuring.

The toddler drew a shuddering breath and dropped his head back to Daniel's shoulder, gripping his BDU jacket tightly with one hand, and put his thumb in his mouth.

Daniel sighed and looked up to see Sam watching him with a strange expression on her face.

"What'd you do to him, Daniel?" Jack asked, coming to stand next to Sam.

Daniel just shrugged and looked back at the little boy in his arms, still feeling guilty.

"I'll get your coffee, Daniel," Sam said, picking up his cup.

"Thanks," Daniel mumbled, patting Ethan's back in apology.

They sat down at a table off to the side, Sam and Jack on one side, Daniel on the other. Sam slid over the coffee, careful to keep it out of Ethan's reach.

"So, how long is our little friend gonna be here?" Jack asked, taking a bite of his donut.

"As soon as we can prove he's not . . . Daniel's, we'll take him back," Sam replied, glancing at Daniel.

Daniel knew he should feel relieved at the thought of sending Ethan back to his own people, but unexpected sadness washed over him. He didn't understand how he could already be so attached to the kid. He'd only been here for a few hours, and half of that time Daniel was either being puked on or cleaning up puke. He unconsciously drew the little boy closer, the feeling that he was forgetting something returning in full force. He looked up and realized Jack was asking him something.

"Sorry, what?" he said.

Jack studied him for a minute. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Daniel said, taking a sip of his coffee.

They sat in silence for a minute, then Ethan lifted his head and looked at the Jello still sitting on Sam's tray.

"Some, Dano?" he said, his thumb coming out of his mouth.

"You want your Jello? Do you feel like you're going to throw up again?" Daniel asked carefully.

"Some, some!" the little boy said, bouncing up and down in Daniel's lap.

"Here you go, buddy," Sam said, smiling and sliding the cup of green Jello across the table.

Before Daniel could grab it, Ethan reached out and took the spoon.

"Daniel, you might want . . ."

Before Jack could finish warning Daniel about the dangers of letting a toddler handle a spoon unsupervised, Ethan had flipped a spoonful of Jello across the commissary. Daniel quickly confiscated the spoon, but the cup was knocked over in the process. Ethan froze and looked up at Daniel.

"Dano mad?" he asked, blue eyes wide.

Daniel sighed. "Nope, still not mad."

Relieved he wasn't in trouble, the little boy poked cautiously at the Jello, then tried to pick up a chunk from the table. Daniel was about to stop him from eating off the table where all kinds of germs could be lurking, but Ethan had just gotten it picked up when it slipped out of his grasp. He giggled and the delighted sound bounced off the walls of the quiet commissary. Daniel realized he hadn't heard the little boy laugh and a grin spread across his face.

He looked up to see Sam and Jack grinning as well, as Ethan tried and failed to pick up more Jello. The toddler's laughter grew louder and louder with each attempt, and soon Sam was giggling along with him, while Jack couldn't help an occasional chuckle.

Daniel could feel the laughter bubbling up inside his chest as well, when a sudden voice behind him made him jump.

"What the . . ."

Daniel turned to see Mitchell standing behind him, a confused frown creasing his forehead.

"You do know he's gonna be a sticky mess, right?" the colonel asked, looking at the giggling little boy.

Daniel hadn't thought that far ahead. He hadn't even had his coffee yet. "Uh . . ."

"You better get him cleaned up soon 'cause we got a briefing in half an hour," Cam said, a smile growing on his face as he watched Ethan play with the Jello.

"They have the DNA results back already?" Sam asked.

Cam shrugged. "Dr. Lam came in early this morning. Guess she's just as curious as everyone else," he said, casting a mischievous glance toward Daniel.

Daniel frowned at him. "Everyone knows there's no possible way he's mine, right?"

Jack grinned and took another bite of his donut. "Whatever you say, Dannyboy."

Daniel's frown deepened and Sam stepped in. "Of course, Daniel. We just have to figure out a way to prove it to the people on P4X31."

Ethan had realized no one was laughing with him anymore and looked up at Daniel, his face and hands covered in green Jello. "Some?" he asked sweetly, holding his hands up to Daniel's face.

"Uh . . . no thanks," Daniel said, carefully taking one of his little wrists and reaching for a napkin.

Cam shook his head in amusement. "Well, I'm gonna go make sure Vala's up. Good luck, Jackson. Sam, General," he nodded in their direction and headed out of the commissary.

"Are all little kids this messy?" Daniel asked with a frown as he tried to wipe the Jello off Ethan's face. The little boy was squirming and protesting and Daniel was only managing to smear the bits of Jello everywhere.

Sam shrugged and Jack just smiled and took another bite of his donut.

Daniel eventually managed to get most of the Jello off the little boy, though his fingers still had a greenish tint. Luckily, his shirt was already green so the Jello didn't show up. Sam helped him wipe off the table and tried to take Ethan so Daniel could drink his coffee, but the little boy latched onto Daniel again, burying his head in his shoulder.

Daniel sighed and adjusted the little boy so he could reach the coffee cup, trying to keep it out of Ethan's range. The little boy appeared to be content to cuddle for the moment, which made Daniel worried he was feeling sick again.

"I feel bad for him," Sam said thoughtfully after a moment.

Daniel looked at her. _Of course you do. He lost his mother and came to another planet and got sick, _he thought, taking another sip of coffee.

"He's so attached to you, Daniel, and we're going to take him home."

He gaped at her. "Are you suggesting we keep him here?"

"No, I just . . . I don't know. I still feel like I'm missing something."

Jack looked at her. "Something that happened on the planet?"

She shrugged and looked at Daniel. "I don't know."

Daniel took another slow sip of coffee and looked down at the little boy nestled against his chest. "It's like . . ."

"Dano?" Ethan lifted his head off Daniel's shoulder but kept a firm grip on his shirt.

"Yeah?" Daniel said, putting his coffee on the table before the little boy could get any ideas.

"Where Mama go?"

Daniel froze. He had no idea how to answer that question. Should he tell Ethan his mother was dead? Would he even understand what that meant?

"Uh . . ."

Sam saved him. "We should get to the briefing, Daniel," she said softly.

"Yeah." He sighed again and took a last swallow of coffee, trying to ignore Ethan's big blue eyes.

"Are you coming, sir?" Sam asked, standing up and gathering the numerous napkins they'd used onto her tray.

He grinned and stood up to help her. "Yeah sure you betcha."

Daniel stood, a strange feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach. He told himself that it was just because Ethan was acting like his stomach hurt again. The little boy, seeing he wasn't going to get an answer to his question, put his thumb in his mouth and settled his head back down on Daniel's shoulder with a little sigh.

The four of them made their way to the briefing room mostly in silence. Daniel could tell Sam was feeling the same unease as he was, and it frustrated him because he knew there was nothing to be uneasy about.

Cam and Teal'c were already seated on one side of the table, and Daniel took a seat next to them, Sam and Jack going around to the other side of the table to sit next to Dr. Lam.

"He okay?" Cam asked, nodding at Ethan.

Daniel shrugged. "I think he's feeling sick again."

"Great," Cam muttered. "If he throws up in here, I'm not cleaning it up."

Daniel just leaned back in his chair. He could feel a headache coming on, and the reminder that Ethan would likely throw up again was not helping.

General Landry came into the room and looked around at them. "Good morning, Jack. I see you wasted no time in getting here."

Jack smiled crookedly and shook his old friend's hand. "You knew that would be the case when you called me about this little situation," he said, looking sideways at Daniel and Ethan.

General Landry chuckled and turned to the others. "Where's Vala?"

"She said she'd be right behind me, sir," Cam said.

"I'm here!" came a shout from the stairway. Vala rushed into the room and plopped down into the chair next to Daniel. "Did I miss anything?"

"We're just about to begin," the general said, giving her a look. She smiled back innocently. "As you are all aware by now," he began. "Dr. Lam has completed the DNA testing. Doctor?" He sat and Carolyn stood up, a worried expression on her face.

The little pocket of worry in Daniel's stomach grew as he watched the doctor shuffle her papers. She was clearly stalling and that meant bad news.

Dr. Lam cleared her throat. "I completed the testing last night but the results were . . . surprising. I decided to go over them again this morning and . . . Dr. Jackson," she said, looking straight at him and taking a deep breath. "You have a son."

The room was silent. The words didn't register in Daniel's mind at first, but then the implications of what the doctor had just said crashed down on him.

Sam was the first to speak. "You mean . . ."

"He's . . ." Cam started.

"Carolyn," the general interrupted. "Are you telling us that the boy really _is _Dr. Jackson's child?"

She nodded. "That's what the DNA says."

"Are you certain?" Teal'c asked with a frown.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't," she said, getting a little annoyed.

Cam blew out a slow breath and turned to look at Daniel. "Jackson?"

Daniel didn't answer at first. His mind was still stuck on the part where this kid shared his DNA.

"Um . . . Daniel?" He heard Vala's voice as if from far away.

He looked up at them with a frown. "It's not possible," was all he could think of to say.

"All right, everyone," the general said, standing again as Dr. Lam sat down. "Is there anything anyone remembers about P4X31 that could explain this?"

Daniel's frown deepened and he shared a look with Sam. She cleared her throat. "I keep getting the feeling that we're missing something, sir. I feel like it's important but I just can't remember."

"I have experienced a similar feeling," Teal'c admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Cam said.

Vala nodded vigorously.

"Memory device?" Jack said suddenly.

"You think someone tampered with their memories, Jack?" Landry said, turning toward him.

The retired general shrugged. "That's what it sounds like to me."

"Sir, if our memories have been changed, we can use the Galaran memory device to find out," Sam said.

Everyone was looking at Daniel again. "I guess . . . we can try it," he said, his worry turning to full blown fear of what he might find out.

"I'll go first if you want, Daniel," Sam said, sensing his reluctance.

He sighed. The offer was tempting, but Sam wasn't the one with a kid. "No, I'll do it."

"All right, let's go to the observation room," the general said. "Dr, if you'll prepare the device?"

Carolyn nodded and headed out of the room. Everyone but Daniel stood and started filing out of the room. Daniel knew he was just stalling, but he couldn't seem to make himself get out of the chair.

"Dano?" Ethan said, lifting his head off Daniel's shoulder for the first time since the commissary.

Daniel couldn't speak, so he just waited.

"Frow up," the little boy said.

That got a reaction. Daniel turned Ethan away from him and looked around desperately for something to catch the inevitable puke. He didn't find anything. Ethan threw up all over the conference table and started to cry.

SG-1 and the two general's all stopped at the sound and turned back.

"Oh boy," Cam muttered under his breath.

Sam rushed back to help, but General Landry stopped her.

"It's all right, Dr. Jackson, I'll get the someone to clean it up."

Daniel stood and and moved away from the table, both arms around Ethan. "Sorry, sir," he said, following the little procession out of the room.

"It's not your fault, Dr," Landry assured him.

But apparently, this whole situation _was_ somehow his fault. He sighed and turned his attention to comforting Ethan.

By the time they reached the observation room, Ethan had stopped crying, but he was hanging onto Daniel tightly.

"Someone's going to have to take him," Daniel said.

"I got him," Jack said stepping forward and trying to take the little boy from Daniel's arms. Ethan screamed and tightened his hold on Daniel's jacket. Daniel pried the little boy's fingers from the cloth and felt instantly awful about it, especially when Ethan called his name from Jack's arms. He turned away and stepped toward the chair and memory device.

"We'll be up in the observation deck, Dr. Jackson," General Landry said over Ethan's screams.

Daniel nodded and watched as they filed out into the hallway. Sam lagged behind and put a hand on his arm. "You sure you're okay?"

"No, not really," he admitted.

Sam smiled at him. "You know we're here for you no matter what, right?"

He managed a smile. "Yeah, I know."

She patted his shoulder and turned to leave the room.

"All right, Daniel," Dr. Lam said. "Go ahead and have a seat."

Daniel obediently sat down and tried to relax as Dr. Lam attached the little nodes to his head.

"Ready?" she asked.

_No_. "Yeah."

* * *

I know, bit of a cliffhanger. Also, I have no idea how long DNA tests take, but if they take longer than roughly twelve hours, let's just pretend the SGC has knowledge from the Asgard or something that makes it go faster. :)


	6. What Happened on P4X31

Jack and Cam get frustrated in this chapter and there is a tiny bit of language. Also, I'm super nervous about this chapter and I've rewritten it about twelve times, so be nice. Of course, you guys are never NOT nice. I have really lovely reviewers. :)  


* * *

"Okay, Daniel. I'm going to try and pinpoint your mission to P4X31. Tell me if it's too far, or not far enough." Dr. Lam switched the machine on, and memories from two-and-a-half years ago flooded Daniel's mind.

It was the day before the mission. He was in his office, working on some translations. "A little too far back," he said.

Dr. Lam made adjustments and he was suddenly on P4X31.

_They stepped through the gate into bright, midday sunlight. P4X31 looked no different than many of the other worlds they'd visited; a sparse forest surrounded the gate, and a well-worn dirt path wound towards distant hills. There were no signs of any indigenous people, but that was best, really. They had come here to find Naquidah, and things would be much easier if they didn't have to work out a mining treaty. _

_Sam scanned the area for the important substance, but it appeared there weren't any deposits in the immediate vicinity. They began moving down the dirt path, everyone with P-90's at the ready, just in case. It wasn't long before a village came into sight, and they moved towards it, still cautious. The people came out to greet them, and were surprisingly friendly and welcoming, grinning and leading them into the village. After they had all been introduced to the leader of the town, Thayn, Mitchell ordered Daniel and Vala to stay and get to know the locals, while he, Sam, and Teal'c went to go search for Naquidah._

_Daniel and Vala had spent the rest of the time speaking with Thayn and several of the townspeople in a large tavern. Thayn had given them something to drink, and Daniel had taken a small sip to be polite. He didn't want to be the one that ruined their relationship with these people and made it more difficult to get the Naquidah._

_Not too much later, Mitchell, Sam, and Teal'c returned, and they discussed the possibility of mining Naquidah in the nearby hillside with Thayn. The friendly man had agreed, and they'd returned home._

The memory ended, and Daniel opened his eyes, feeling more confused than ever. There was absolutely nothing in that memory that would suggest he'd had some kind of relationship with anyone on the planet. To his knowledge, he'd been in the tavern with Thayn the entire time.

He sat up a little and looked at Dr. Lam, who was studying her computer screen with a frown. She looked up at him. "There is definite evidence of tampering, Dr. Jackson. Did you catch anything that seems inconsistent?"

Daniel shook his head. "Nothing."

"Let me see if I can clear it up. I'm taking it back to the point where I start seeing inconsistencies."

Daniel was accepting the drink from Thayn, when everything went blurry. Images started flashing before him. A strange room, a woman . . . he knew her. Why did he recognize her? Suddenly, like a rubber band stretched beyond it's full potential, the memory snapped into focus, and the true memory of what had happened came back to him. He remembered feeling suddenly weightless and confused after drinking what Thayn had given him, and then ridiculously happy. Thayn had drugged him. And he recognized that woman because he had slept with her. She was Ethan's mother.

"Stop!" he shouted. The memory abruptly halted, but now that he had broken through the wall of whatever was blocking his memory before, he remembered anyway. He tore the connectors off his head and pushed past Dr. Lam, ignoring her shouts.

He ran out of the room, down the hall and into the elevator, desperate to get away from the base. He needed to think without constant questions and comments from his team members. As the elevator carried him to the surface, his thoughts turned to Ethan. He knew the kid would be upset that he'd left, and it was almost enough to make him head back down, but he couldn't bear the thought of explaining what had happened to everyone right now.

He reached the surface and ran out to his car, a little surprised no one had caught him yet. He pulled out of the parking lot and floored the gas pedal, getting away from the base as fast as possible.

He ended up parked at a scenic overlook, after driving up into the mountains. He got out of his car and sagged against the hood, dropping his face into his hands.

He told himself that it really wasn't his fault, and somewhere inside he knew that to be mostly true. The drink Thayn had given him had completely erased his brain of rational thought, and he could hardly hold himself responsible for his actions, but he couldn't help thinking he should have been more careful. He should have known better than to accept beverages from people on a different planet.

And now he had Ethan. They couldn't take him back to his home planet now. He supposed they could fake evidence that Daniel wasn't his father, but he knew that would only make him feel worse. Ethan was his responsibility now. The thought terrified him. He knew nothing about taking care of a small boy, and what was he supposed to do with him when SG-1 went on missions? Even worse, what if he didn't come back from a mission? Would he have to stop going through the gate? Should he let someone else adopt the little boy?

Daniel's thoughts circled around in his head over and over. He didn't even notice the almost constant ringing of his cell phone, and it was only when he realized he was starving that he looked at his watch. He'd been gone for almost two hours.

Suddenly feeling guilty, he jumped back in his car and headed back toward the base. If anything, he felt more fear now than when he had left and he was definitely not ready to talk to his team, but he felt bad for leaving Ethan.

He shook his head, amazed that he already felt so responsible for the little boy. When he thought about it, he'd felt responsible for him the moment Ethan had puked on him. He almost smiled at that thought. Yep, he was certainly off to a great start as a dad.

He pulled into the parking lot and sat in his car for a moment, dreading explaining to his team what had happened. The thought of Ethan calling his name finally made him open the door and get out, though he walked slowly toward the entrance.

He rode the elevator down, willing it to go a little slower but it seemed to be plummeting at an even faster speed than usual. The door slid open with a ding and he was face to face with Vala.

Surprise flitted across her face and then relief, and she threw her arms around his neck. "Daniel! We were so worried!" She drew back and frowned at him. "Don't you ever do that again," she said severely.

Daniel didn't know what to say. "I . . ."

She just shook her head and grabbed his hand, dragging him down the hall. "You should know better than to just run off like that! What happened anyway? We were _so_ worried and it took forever to calm Ethan down."

She continued her tirade as she dragged him down the hall. He wasn't sure where they were going, but it was likely wherever the others were. They ended up outside one of the guest rooms. She opened the door.

"I found him," she announced.

Cam was sitting on the bed, holding Ethan on his lap and reading him a book, and Teal'c was standing guard at the foot of the bed. Ethan's eyes were red-rimmed and his thumb was securely in his mouth, and the sight made Daniel feel like the biggest jerk in the world. At Vala's announcement he looked up and saw Daniel.

"Dano!" he exclaimed, taking his thumb out of his mouth and hopping off Cam's lap.

Vala stood aside and Daniel crouched down to catch the little boy. Ethan crashed into him, almost making him fall over, and he wrapped his arms around the little boy and hugged him tightly. A sudden surge of emotion swelled up through his chest and he shut his eyes against the tears threatening to spill out. He stood, holding Ethan in his arms, and the little boy put his head down on Daniel's shoulder in the now familiar cuddle.

"Jackson," Cam said, standing and coming out into the hall with Daniel and Vala. "What the hell happened?" He was trying to sound angry, but Daniel could tell he was more concerned than mad. Daniel didn't answer. He didn't quite trust his voice yet.

"We were most concerned, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, frowning at him.

Cam shook his head. "I'll call Sam and General O'Neill. They're out lookin' for you," he said, casting an accusatory glance at Daniel.

"I will inform General Landry of your arrival," Teal'c said and headed down the hallway.

"Are you okay, Daniel?" Vala asked with surprising gentleness.

He swallowed hard and nodded, unable to look at her. "I don't know."

She smiled softly and stroked the back of Ethan's head. "Everything will be fine."

Daniel never thought he'd appreciate Vala as much as he did right then. Her quiet reassurance went a long way in calming his raw nerves.

"Sam and General O'Neill are on their way. You better have a damn good reason for takin' off like that, Jackson," Cam said, snapping his phone shut.

Daniel didn't feel like defending his actions, so he spoke to Ethan instead. "How are you feeling, Ethan?" The little boy just snuggled deeper into his shoulder. Daniel looked up at Vala. "Did he throw up again?"

She shook her head, still stroking Ethan's hair. "I think he still feels sick though, poor baby."

No one knew what to say at that point, and they fell into an awkward silence. Cam cleared his throat after a minute. "Might as well go wait for 'em by the elevator." He led the way back to the elevators and stood in silence in front of the metal doors.

They didn't have to wait long. The elevator doors slid open and the pair stepped out. Jack looked furious and Sam just looked worried.

"It's a good thing you're holding a kid right now, Daniel," Jack said, stepping up to him. "I am this close to causing you bodily harm!"

"Jack," Sam tried to intervene.

He ignored her. "Do you have any idea how much time we just wasted looking for you? Why the hell did you run off like that?"

"I don't know, okay?" Daniel shouted, his calm facade finally snapping. "It was just . . . it was too much. I had to go think without . . . this!" he gestured at his team members with the arm that wasn't holding Ethan.

The little boy lifted his head off Daniel's shoulder. "Dano mad?" he asked, little brow drawn together in worry.

"I'm not mad at you," Daniel said. He looked back at his friends and caught the hurt look in their eyes.

"We were just worried, Daniel," Sam said quietly. "You don't usually do things like that."

Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He did know they were just trying to help, but that didn't stop him from being frustrated with them.

"Daniel, did the memory device work?" Vala asked.

Daniel sighed again. "Yeah, it did."

"You gonna tell us what happened?" Cam pressed.

"Briefing room. You're going to want to be sitting down," he said.

They all regarded him carefully, expressions ranging from worry to curiosity, but they all started moving toward the briefing room.

Teal'c, General Landry, and Dr. Lam were waiting for them. The general regarded Daniel closely for a minute, and then finally spoke.

"Are you all right, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel was once again at a loss for words. Over twenty-four languages at his disposal and he couldn't come up with an answer to a simple question. He settled with shaking his head and slumping down in one of the chairs.

Everyone sat down without a word and the silence was overpowering. Daniel had no idea where to begin, so he didn't. He just shifted Ethan so his short little legs were across Daniel's lap and his head was tucked against Daniel's chest. Daniel stared down at the little boy's tousled brown hair, and while he could feel everyone's eyes on him, he couldn't bring himself to look up.

"Dr. Jackson," the general prompted. "I trust you discovered something?"

He swallowed and raised his head slowly. "Yes."

"Care to elaborate?" the general said, clearly beginning to get frustrated.

Daniel took a deep breath. "Vala and I were drugged. Thayn gave us something to drink that somehow tampered with our memory." He swallowed. That was the easy part. "It also seemed to be . . . intoxicating." He ducked his head. "It's true. Ethan is . . . my son."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Wait," Cam said. "Let me get this straight. You got high off of some alien drink, and slept with an alien woman without any of us knowing?"

Daniel felt his face go bright red at the blunt assessment of the situation. He cleared his throat. "Vala was the only one with me at the time, and she was drugged too."

"How can a drug substitute a memory with another one?" Landry asked, turning to his daughter.

"I don't think the memory _was_ substituted. I think it was just blanked out. Dr. Jackson, Vala, how long would you say you were at the village after the others left?" she asked.

"An hour or so," Vala replied, looking concerned. "You know, if Daniel had sex, who _knows _what I did."

Dr. Lam looked at her. "You can be hooked up to the memory device next."

Vala shook her head. "I think I'd rather not know."

Dr. Lam shrugged and looked at the other members of the team. "How long were you gone from the village?"

"Almost two hours," Mitchell answered with a frown.

Silence descended again.

"Well . . ." Jack said slowly. "I guess that explains why he looks just like you."

"Dr. Jackson," General Landry said. "While I don't want to rush you into making any decisions, we can't have a child here at the base. Have you thought about what you're going to do with him?"

Daniel had definitely thought about it, but hadn't reached a conclusion. "I don't know," he said truthfully.

"We'll help you, Daniel," Vala said.

"Help me what? Take care of him? Convince his village to take him back? Give him to some family here?" Daniel said, feeling rather hysterical.

Vala looked at him. "Take care of him, of course."

Daniel opened his mouth to say something else, but he looked down at Ethan instead. Could he do it? Could he take care of this little boy? "I don't know," he whispered.

Ethan lifted his head and looked up at Daniel. "Dano sad?"

"No, I'm not sad," he said softly. "Just confused."

What he really was, was scared, but Ethan seemed content with his explanation and snuggled back into his chest.

Daniel let out a slow breath and hugged Ethan a little closer. "I don't know what to do."

"The one thing I know is that he can't stay here," Landry repeated. "And as of this moment, you're on down time, SG-1. I'll give you a couple weeks to figure this out."

"Yes, sir," Sam and Cam said at the same time.

"All right, then. Good luck, people. Jack." He nodded at his old friend and walked back to his office. He stopped and turned in the doorway and softened his words with an offer. "If you need anything, let me know."

"Are you going to take him back to your apartment, Daniel?" Sam asked.

He supposed that would be what he'd have to do, but a sudden thought hit him. "My apartment isn't exactly baby-proof," he said, thinking of the many breakable artifacts within Ethan's reach.

"Good point," Sam said. "We can take him to my house if you want. I have less breakable things, anyway."

"Hey," Jack said suddenly. "We can all go to the cabin."

They all looked at each other. "Brilliant!" Vala exclaimed. "It'll be fun!"

Daniel had to admit the idea appealed to him, too. Everyone would be there to help him take care of Ethan, and it might be nice to get away from everything for a while; it would give him time to think. "You sure that's okay, Jack?"

Jack looked at him in surprise. "You want to go?"

"Yeah," he said. "It sounds good right now."

Jack grinned. "Everyone else good?"

A chorus of agreement came from around the table. "Sounds like a plan, then."

"How about you, little guy?" Cam said, leaning over and ruffling Ethan's hair gently.

The little boy didn't respond, and Daniel shifted him so he could see his face. Ethan was sound asleep.

Cam grinned. "Guess it's nap time."

Daniel looked up from Ethan's sweet little face and saw everyone at the table had at least a faint smile on their faces. For the first time that day, his heart lightened. Maybe he could do it. With their help, maybe he could do it.

"Well, come on campers. We've got shopping to do!" Jack said, standing up.

"Shopping?" Vala asked, grinning and clapping her hands together.

"Me and Sam and Teal'c will handle the food, and you three can go get the baby stuff," Jack said, going into general mode.

Daniel blinked at him. "Baby stuff?"

"Yes, Daniel," Jack replied as if speaking to a small child. "Little kids need all kinds of stuff."

"But . . ."

"Jack can help you make a list," Sam said, grinning at the general.

He shot her an annoyed look.

"Can we get him clothes?" Vala said, grinning widely and bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Let's let him take his nap first. We can go get some lunch and make the lists," Sam suggested.

"Lunch sounds great," Cam said standing up and already heading for the stairs.

Everyone got up and followed him out into the hallway, Daniel moving slowly so he didn't wake Ethan up.

"I'll get the baby monitor!" Vala volunteered and skipped off down the hall.

Daniel split off in the other direction and headed for a guest room that hadn't been puked in. He left the lights off as he went into the room, leaving the door open so he could see. He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully laid Ethan down, tucking the covers up around him. The little boy snuggled into the pillow and put his thumb in his mouth. Daniel stroked his hair gently, and stood up.

He looked up to see Vala had already gotten the baby monitors and was standing in the doorway. He took one from her, turned it on, and set it on the night stand.

He started to leave the room, but hesitated. "Maybe I should just bring him," he said softly. He was worried Ethan would throw up, or think Daniel had left him again.

"He'll be okay, Daniel," Vala said, raising an eyebrow.

Daniel took one last look at the sleeping little boy and came out into the hallway, taking the other monitor from Vala. He switched it on and made sure it was working, then walked with Vala to the commissary.

"What if he throws up again?" Daniel asked with a worried frown.

Vala rolled her eyes. "He'll be _fine_, Daniel. That's what the monitors are for."

He sighed and looked down at the little piece of plastic in his hands. "I guess."

"C'mon," she said linking her arm with his and dragging him down the hallway. "I'm starving!"


	7. Shopping

Everyone else was already seated at a table when Daniel and Vala reached the commissary, and they filled up their trays and went to join them.

Sam was sitting next to Jack again, and she had a pad of paper, ready to make the shopping lists. Cam and Teal'c were sitting across from them, and they had pulled up another table so all six of them could sit together.

Sam looked up as Daniel sat next to her. "Is he okay?"

Daniel nodded and set the monitor on the table, making sure it was up loud enough. "I just hope he doesn't throw up again."

"Let's make the baby list!" Vala said, clapping her hands.

Jack rolled his eyes, but Sam grinned at her. "Okay, we'll definitely need a car seat," she said, writing it down.

"Clothes!" Vala interjected. "And cute little baby shoes."

"Don't we already have some stuff?" Cam asked.

Sam nodded. "Before we got here, they found a couple changes of clothes for him, and some diapers and things like that, but we don't have much."

"You'll need more diapers," Jack added. "You always need more diapers."

"Would not some toys be prudent as well?" Teal'c asked.

Sam was scribbling furiously on the paper as everyone took turns suggesting things Ethan might need. Everyone except Daniel. He felt like his decision was being made for him, when he really needed more time to think about whether or not he could give Ethan the proper care.

"That everything?" Sam said looking around the table. No one seemed to have any other suggestions, so she ripped out the page and handed it to Daniel. "Sound good?"

Daniel nodded numbly and scanned the list. Jack wasn't kidding when he said kids needed a lot of stuff. "He needs all of this?"

"Yup," Jack said.

"Well, it might be a little excessive, but better safe than sorry," Sam amended.

Daniel sighed softly and folded up the list to put in his pocket. "Thanks," he said, looking around the table.

"And now for food!" Jack announced, taking over Sam's scribing duties. "Who wants what?"

Daniel didn't contribute much to the food list either. He picked at his lunch and listened for any sound from the baby monitor, mostly oblivious to his teammates.

"Hello, Earth to Daniel!" Jack was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, looking up.

"You want to add anything?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"Daniel," Vala said, looking at his tray with a frown. "Eat your food! You'll need your strength for shopping!"

Daniel sighed and took a bite of mashed potatoes.

"That's better," Vala said.

They all finished eating and Jack took Sam and Teal'c to go get the food, leaving Daniel, Vala, and Cam to wait at the base until Ethan woke up.

They had returned to the commissary after changing into their street clothes, since it was fairly close to Ethan's room, and Cam and Vala were eating ice cream, when Daniel heard a sound from the baby monitor. He shot from his chair and raced down the hall before Cam or Vala could even blink.

Daniel skidded to a stop outside Ethan's room and swung the door open. The little boy was sitting up, rubbing his eyes and whimpering a little, but he wasn't screaming.

"Hey, Ethan," Daniel said softly, going over to sit on the bed. Ethan crawled into his lap and Daniel hugged him. "Do you still feel sick, buddy?"

"Pway!" Ethan answered, coming fully awake and bouncing in Daniel's lap.

Daniel smiled at him. "We're going to go shopping, okay?"

"Shopping?" Ethan repeated curiously.

"Yeah," Daniel said, surprised the little boy could say "shopping" but not any of their names.

Vala and Cam appeared in the doorway. "Oh, good," Vala said. "No barfing."

Ethan gave them a little wave. "Hi," he said brightly.

Vala grinned at him. "Oh, Daniel, he is just so cute!"

"Ethan, tell Vala and Cam what we're going to go do," Daniel said, hoping he'd repeat his newly learned word.

"Shopping," the little boy said after only a moments hesitation.

Vala laughed and Cam grinned. "He's a smart little bugger, too."

"Come on, let's go! I can't wait to get all the baby stuff!" Vala said, bouncing on her toes.

Ethan slid off Daniel's lap and padded over to Vala. "Go ba-bye?"

Vala grinned and crouched down to be at eye level with the little boy. "You want to come shopping with me?"

Ethan looked back at Daniel. "Dano, shopping?"

"Yep!" Vala said enthusiastically. "Daniel is coming too!"

Daniel shook his head and came over to stand by Ethan. "Let's go, Jack's probably already done with the food."

"Might wanna grab some diapers," Cam said.

"Right," Daniel said, going over to grab a handful of diapers from the package. "Everyone ready?"

"Weady?" Ethan said, looking up at the three adults.

Vala grinned and held out her hands to him, and he let her pick him up. She settled him on her hip and kissed his cheek happily.

"Here," Daniel said, holding out the diapers. "Stick these in your purse or something."

Vala took the diapers and saluted with them still in her hand. "Yes, sir," she said mockingly.

Ethan copied her gesture. "Yes, sir!" he repeated.

Cam laughed and ruffled the little boy's hair. "Not bad, kiddo."

"Come _on,_" Daniel said impatiently.

"All right, no need to be pushy," Vala said, slipping her purse off her shoulder and handing it to Cam along with the diapers. "Thanks, darling," she said with an endearing smile as he obligingly stuffed the diapers in her purse for her.

They made it out to Daniel's car with more than a few curious looks from various base personnel. Vala insisted on sitting in the back with Ethan, and Cam took the passenger seat.

"Make sure it's tight enough," Daniel said from the driver's seat, looking over his shoulder to make sure Vala was buckling Ethan in properly.

"I don't want to squish him, Daniel," Vala replied, leaning over Ethan to buckle the seat belt.

"I said tight _enough_."

Vala got the seat belt buckled and slumped into the seat next to the little boy. "Tight enough for you?" she asked, folding her arms.

Daniel reached back and tugged gently on the belt. "I guess. The car seat is the first thing we're getting, though."

"Dano!" Ethan cried out as Daniel turned and faced back toward the wheel.

He turned back quickly. "What's the matter?"

Ethan plucked at the seatbelt, his little bare feet kicking up and down. "Up!" he said, reaching out in a request to be held.

_Here we go, _Daniel thought. "No, Ethan, you have to stay back there, okay?"

Ethan kicked his feet harder and tried to squirm out of the seat belt. "No!"

Daniel sighed and was about to try explaining again, when Cam intervened. "Just go, Jackson. The sooner we get it over with the better."

Daniel had to agree with that logic, and turned back to the front, starting the car. "You can get out in a minute, Ethan," he assured the little boy.

Ethan didn't hear him. He was immediately distracted by the noise and movement of the car as they pulled out of the parking lot. His little feet stilled and he forgot about the seat belt, gazing in awe out the window.

Daniel watched in the rear view mirror as Ethan's eyes got bigger and bigger as the car picked up speed. He hoped he wasn't scared; Daniel was certain the little boy had never been in anything even remotely like a car before.

"Is he okay?" he asked Vala, still glancing in the rear view mirror as often as safety allowed.

Vala grinned and ruffled the little boy's hair. "I think he likes it," she replied.

Ethan looked up at her. "Dat?" he asked pointing out the window.

"Um . . . that's a tree," she answered.

"Dat? Dat?" Ethan repeated.

Vala supplied him with the words for the passing objects outside his window, even though she couldn't be sure what he was actually pointing at.

"Geez, Daniel, even if he didn't look like you I'd still think he's yours," Cam said, also watching the pair in the rear view mirror.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Cam glanced at him. "He has to know what everything _is, _what it does, what it's significance is. Same brand of curiosity."

Daniel thought about it for a minute and decided Cam was probably right. Not that he was going to admit it. "Aren't all little kids curious?" he said, his voice holding a note of challenge.

"Sure, but c'mon Jackson, look at him."

Daniel glanced back into the rear view mirror. Ethan was still pointing at things and saying "dat" so fast that Vala didn't even have time to answer. A smile tugged at the corner of Daniel's mouth. Definitely an abundance of curiosity.

They reached WalMart, and when Daniel pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, Ethan turned toward the front and protested.

"Go, Dano! Go bye!" he said, bouncing as much as he could while still restrained in the seat belt.

Cam laughed and turned to look at the little boy. "Guess you decided you like the car, huh buddy?"

"Go! Go!" Ethan repeated, straining against the seat belt.

Vala leaned over and unbuckled him and he catapulted out of the seat and tried to crawl up in the front with Daniel and Cam. Vala grabbed him before he got too far.

"Whoa, there, Daniel Junior," she said, pulling him back to sit on her lap.

Daniel cast an annoyed glance back at her and got out of the car. "Don't call him that," he said, opening her door and taking Ethan so she could get out.

"Call him what?" Vala replied innocently.

"Go bye-bye!" Ethan said, stabbing his finger at the car and bouncing in Daniel's arms.

"We're going to go in there," Daniel said, turning away from Vala and pointing at the large store.

"Shopping, remember?" Vala contributed, settling her purse on her shoulder. "Do you have the list, Daniel? Can we get the clothes first?"

Daniel shifted Ethan so he could pull the folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Car seat first," he said, handing her the list. "Then clothes."

As they walked into the store, Daniel's phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. "Hello?"

"Hey, Daniel, is he awake yet?"

It was Sam. "Yeah, we're here at Walmart."

"Oh good. We're about done over here, we'll -"

"Sam, can you hang on for a sec?" Ethan was grabbing for the phone, curious at the strange noises that were coming from it. Cam stepped up to help and plucked Ethan from Daniel's arms.

"I see, I see!" Ethan requested, struggling against Cam.

"Sorry, Sam, what were you saying?" Daniel said, covering his other ear to block out Ethan's loud protests.

"I just said we're about done; we're going to get the food packed in the truck and then we'll come meet you."

"Okay, sounds good. See you in a bit."

Daniel hung up the phone and looked around for his teammates. They had found a little carnival type ride to distract Ethan and he was sitting on a little plastic horse that was rocking gently, a big grin on his face.

"Dano! Horsey!" he said, patting the chipped paint of the plastic horse.

Daniel smiled back at him. "How does he know that's a horse?"

"We told him, Daniel," Vala said, hovering over Ethan with her hands outstretched in case he started to fall.

Cam shot Daniel a mischievous grin and turned to Ethan. "Hey, Ethan, what does a cowboy say?"

"Yee haw!" the little boy shouted without hesitation, his grin splitting his little face.

Daniel shook his head, though secretly, he thought it was pretty cute. "Last time I leave you two alone with him," he grumbled.

The ride ended before either of them could reply and Ethan looked up at them in confusion. "Horsey?"

"All done now, little man," Cam said, lifting the little boy off the ride.

"Horsey!" Ethan cried, reaching toward the little plastic horse.

Cam lifted the little boy over his head and sat him on his shoulders. "C'mon, pardner. We gotta get this show on the road."

Ethan was startled at being up so high up at first, but then he giggled and patted Cam's head. "Big!" he said delightedly.

Daniel smiled up at him and grabbed a cart, following Vala, who led the way to the baby department at the back of the store. Ethan kept up a steady stream of chatter, exclaiming over each new thing he saw. As they walked through the baby section, Vala did too; Daniel practically had to drag her to the car seat aisle.

They finally stood in front of the row of various car seats, but they were all baffled at the array of different kinds and styles.

"Uh . . . which one are we s'posed to get, Jackson?" Cam said.

"I don't know," Daniel said absently, squatting down to look at the bottom row.

Next to him, Vala was stretching up on her toes to see the top row. "Look, Daniel, this one has little cup holders!"

Cam walked over to her. "Why would it need _two_ cup holders?"

"One for juice and one for milk," Vala replied authoritatively.

Daniel stood up with a frown. "Safety is a little more important than cup holders."

Vala ignored him. "Oooh, look! This one has cute little butterflies on it!"

"Vala, he's a _boy_," Cam said.

"There's blue butterflies," she replied.

"Buttafies," Ethan tried.

Daniel sighed heavily. This was going nowhere. Just as he was about to suggest they go get clothes and wait for Jack's somewhat more expert opinion on the car seats, a young woman came up to him.

"Can I help you find something?" she asked, smiling at him.

Daniel gestured helplessly at the rows of seats. "Do you know anything about car seats?"

Her gaze flickered to Cam and Vala who were still arguing about the butterflies, and Ethan interjecting his own unintelligible comments from Cam's shoulders.

"I think I can help you find something. How old is your little boy?" she asked, clearly trying to hide her amusement at the threesome.

"Uh . . ." Daniel hadn't really thought about it. He knew he was around two years old, but he wanted to be exact so they could get the right seat. He thought for a minute, brow furrowed. "He should be two in . . . June."

The woman looked at him a little strangely. "Okay, let's see. He'll need one of the forward facing ones." She walked along the isle, looking at the boxes. "This one has the best safety rating, but he might be a little small . . ." She looked up at Ethan. "Any idea how much he weighs?"

Daniel shook his head, feeling decidedly unprepared to do this. Getting a car seat was way more complicated than he could have imagined.

"That's okay." She studied Ethan for another minute, smiling as he jabbered along with Cam and Vala who were now arguing about whether or not yellow could be a "boy color." The woman turned back to the row of car seats, her finger tracing the labels. "Ah, here's the one I was looking for. It's a five-point harness so it's easy to adjust, and you'll probably be able to keep it for the next couple years."

Daniel's mind snagged on the part about the "next couple years." He looked up at Ethan, imaging what the next couple years might bring the two of them if he decided to keep the little boy.

"Sir?"

He snapped out of is thoughts and looked at the woman who was still pointing at the car seat. "Sorry, what?"

She gave him another strange look. "How does this one look to you?"

He peered at the box. It displayed a picture of a dark blue seat, with what looked like two simple straps. "You're sure it's the right . . .size and everything?" Daniel asked.

"Yep. Just read the instructions carefully." She regarded him for a moment. "Have you ever installed a car seat before?"

"Uh . . . no."

She was giving him that strange look again. "If you don't mind me asking . . ."

"He's . . . adopted," Daniel said quickly.

Understanding dawned on the woman's face. "How long have you had him?" she asked with a smile.

"Just . . . since yesterday," Daniel replied.

"Jackson," Cam interrupted. "Will you _please _tell her that yellow is not a boy color?"

Daniel ignored them and looked up at the little boy on Cam's shoulders. "Ethan, what about this one?" he said, pointing to the seat the woman had pointed out. For some reason, he felt the need to get the little boy's approval.

Ethan leaned over, trying to see. "Down," he said, patting Cam's head.

Cam obligingly lifted the little boy over his head and set him down on the floor. He padded over to Daniel on his bare feet and studied the box. "Bwue one?" he asked, looking up at Daniel.

"You want the blue one?" Daniel said, leaning down.

The little boy looked at it for another minute, his head cocked to the side. "Bwue one," he said, reaching out and trying to lift the box off the shelf.

Daniel moved quickly to help him, holding the box low enough so that Ethan could keep his hands on it and feel like he was helping. They slid the box onto the bottom of the cart just as Daniel's phone rang again.

* * *

I know, that's a terrible place to stop, but this chapter was beginning to drag on. Next one should be up soon! And there's more shopping, don't worry. :)


	8. Shopping Part 2

Sorry about the delay, everyone. My computer crashed soon after I posted the last chapter, and then I was on vacation in Hong Kong for the past couple of weeks, so things have been a little crazy! Anyway, thank you for your patience. My computer _is_ restored to me, so I'll be able to post the next chapter soon. :)

* * *

_ They slid the box onto the bottom of the cart just as Daniel's phone rang again._

Daniel straightened up and pulled the phone from his pocket, seeing it was Sam again. Ethan reached for the phone, tugging on Daniel's jeans and bouncing up on his toes.

"Hey," Daniel said into the phone, placing a hand on Ethan's head in an attempt to calm him.

"Hey," Sam replied. "We've got all the food packed up and ready to go. Where are you guys? We'll come meet you."

"Car seat aisle, back of the store," Daniel said, looking down at Ethan who was becoming audibly upset at being denied the phone.

"Okay, we'll see you in a sec. Everything okay?"

Daniel realized she could hear Ethan who was still jumping up and down and requesting the phone in a less than polite manner. "Um, yeah. He just wants the phone," he explained as Vala came and picked the little boy up, trying to get him to be quiet.

"Let me talk to him," Sam suggested.

"Uh . . . okay." Daniel was a little reluctant to let the toddler handle his phone, but he held it up to Ethan's ear. The little boy stilled instantly and listened for a moment.

"Fam?" he said, reaching up to hold the phone himself. He listened as Sam said something else, and nodded, not realizing she couldn't see him. "Bwue one," he said, looking toward the car seat. Then he started babbling incoherently, though Daniel thought he caught the word "buttafies" more than once.

Sam was still on the phone when they came around the corner to meet Daniel's group. Ethan caught sight of them and nearly dropped the phone in his excitement. "Fam!" he exclaimed, in awe that he had been talking to Sam on the phone and now she was right there in front of him. Vala set him on the floor and Daniel plucked the phone from his grasp on the way down. The little boy raced over to Sam, Jack, and Teal'c, skidding to a stop in front of them.

"Bwue one!" he said, tugging at Sam's jeans and pointing toward his new car seat.

Sam, Jack, and Teal'c all exclaimed over the car seat and let the little boy tell them about it even though his words weren't understandable.

Daniel realized the employee that had helped them find the car seat was still there, watching the scene with interest. "He's a lucky kid," she said, smiling at Daniel. "Looks like he's got quite a family!"

Daniel couldn't think of anything to say. He watched his teammates huddle around the animated little boy and felt the weight of the decision he would have to make descend upon him again.

"Can I help you with anything else?" the woman asked, breaking Daniel out of his thoughts again.

"Oh, um, I think we'll be fine. Thanks," Daniel said, forcing a smile.

She smiled back and cast one more glance at Ethan. "Good luck, then, and congratulations." She turned and moved away from the little "family."

"Daniel," Jack said, moving away from Ethan. "All you have is the car seat? You've been here for twenty minutes!"

"We had to make sure it was the right one," Daniel said defensively.

Jack rolled his eyes and turned back to the rest of the group. "All right, people. We've got food waiting in coolers, so let's make this fast." He waited for a minute for everyone to drag their attention from Ethan. "Daniel, Vala, take the kid and get clothes and shoes. T and Mitchell, you got bath stuff and diapers, and me and Carter'll take books and toys."

They all started to move off in separate directions, Cam grumbling under his breath about the general getting the fun part. Vala plopped Ethan in the shopping cart's child seat and started pushing it back toward the clothes. As the cart started to move, Ethan looked around frantically. "Dano!" he shouted.

Daniel had been at the front of the cart where the little boy couldn't quite see him. He stepped quickly into the toddler's view. "Right here, Ethan," he assured him.

The little boy relaxed visibly and began his running commentary on everything he saw.

"Let's find shoes first," Vala said, almost unable to contain her excitement as they approached the clothing section.

Daniel didn't reply, content to let her take the lead. Besides, between Vala and Ethan, there wasn't room for him to say anything.

They stopped in front of the many rows of shoes and Daniel realized it was going to be just as complicated to find the right pair of shoes as it had been to find the car seat. How was he supposed to know what size the kid needed?

Vala solved the problem easily however. "Look, Daniel! A cute little foot measurer!" she exclaimed, pointing to a mat on the floor with various child-sized foot prints and corresponding sizes on it. She eagerly lifted Ethan out of the cart and stood him on the mat.

Ethan was quiet for a moment, watching curiously as Vala placed his little bare feet on the mat, trying to find the right size. "Five and a half, Daniel," she said, standing up with Ethan in her arms.

While the size narrowed down the selection a bit, Daniel still had no idea what kind to get. He hadn't even bought shoes for himself in years.

Vala, however, seemed to know exactly what she was doing. She scanned the shelves with an expert eye, Ethan sitting on her hip. She pulled out a box of tiny tennis shoes. "These are perfect! Look, they light up!"

"I guess that way we won't lose him in the dark," Daniel said logically.

She sighed at his lack of enthusiasm. "Go find some socks so he can try them on," she ordered.

Daniel hesitated, unwilling to be bossed around by Vala, but they did need socks. He shoved his hands in his pockets, glaring at her a little, and turned and went in search of the socks. He hadn't gotten far when he heard Ethan's cry.

"Dano!"

He turned and walked back down the aisle. Ethan held out his hands to Daniel and he took him from Vala's arms. "I guess we're both going to get socks," he said.

"Hurry up," Vala said, already turning her attention back to the shoes.

Daniel and Ethan went and got the socks and returned to find Vala had stacked up several shoe boxes full of shoes for Ethan to try on. For the next ten minutes, they proceeded to put different little shoes on Ethan, finally narrowing it down to a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of sandals, and a tiny little pair of flip-flops that didn't really stay on his feet but Vala insisted on getting. In fact, she would have kept trying different shoes on him, but he started to get bored and wiggly and she was forced to stop.

"All right," she said, putting the boxes in the cart. "Clothes, now!"

Daniel fought down a groan, knowing the clothes would take even longer, but settled Ethan in the cart again and followed her.

Vala was examining a rack of little cargo shorts and Daniel was leaning against the cart listening to Ethan chatter about who-knows-what, when an older lady approached them.

"How old is your little boy?" she asked, grinning at Ethan.

This time, Daniel was ready with the answer. "He'll be two in June," he said.

The woman leaned closer. "Oh, he's such a cutie!"

Ethan went quiet for a moment and regarded her carefully. "Shoes," he said solemnly.

The woman glanced at Daniel and he clarified. "We just got him new shoes," he said, pointing at the boxes in the cart.

The woman nodded in understanding and turned her attention back to Ethan. "And did you get a new car seat, too?"

Ethan nodded. "Bwue one!"

Just then Vala came over, holding up a green pair of shorts and a khaki pair. "Daniel, which one?" she asked, and then noticed the woman talking to Daniel. "Oh, hello."

"I was just saying how cute your little boy is," the woman said, smiling at Vala.

Vala grinned back. "Why thank you! We think so, too."

"And you two are quite a lovely couple as well," the woman gushed.

Vala smiled sweetly and managed to shoot a mischievous glance at Daniel at the same time who was fighting the urge to run away. "You're very kind."

"Well, I'll leave you be." She waved at Ethan. "Bye-bye!"

Ethan smiled at her and waved back, his little fist opening and closing. As soon as the woman was out of range, Vala turned her full grin on Daniel. "Well, darling, that was interesting."

Daniel just dropped his head.

"Oh, come on, Daniel, she's right. The three of us make a perfect little family!" she said, ruffling Ethan's hair.

Daniel kept his head down, but that was only so Vala wouldn't see the change in his expression. He would never admit to her how much her teasing statement suddenly, irrationally, appealed to him. Him and Vala and Ethan a family. He shook the thought off and answered Vala's previous question.

"Just get them both," he muttered.

Vala patted him on the head and dropped both pairs of shorts into the cart. He could practically feel the grin radiating off her.

"Come help me pick out shirts, darling," she said, bouncing ahead.

"Can't you just call me by my name?" he grumbled, pushing the cart after her.

"Darling and Daniel really aren't that different," she said, pulling out a garish little shirt plastered with cheesy looking dinosaurs.

"Yes, they are," Daniel insisted, taking the shirt and hanging it back on the rack.

"They both start with the same two letters and have the same number of syllables," Vala argued, pulling out another shirt with a strange blue dog on it.

"That doesn't mean they're not different. And can't you find some normal shirts for him?" he said, putting the weird dog shirt back as well.

Vala folded her arms and pouted. "Fine, mister know-it-all. You pick out the shirts, I'm going to find him some jeans."

Daniel watched her go, frustrated that he'd made her mad again. Sometimes she would fight with him for hours, and sometimes she would stalk off and make him feel guilty, and he could never tell which one it was going to be until it was too late. He looked down at Ethan who was also looking after Vala.

"Where Vawa go?" the little boy asked, turning his big blue eyes to Daniel.

Daniel sighed and decided to change the subject. "Which shirts do you want, Ethan?"

With Ethan's input on the colors, Daniel picked out a few striped polo shirts and a couple t-shirts with Disney characters on them for variety. He didn't see Vala anywhere, so he pushed the cart over to the jackets and Ethan picked out a little blue windbreaker.

Just as Daniel was getting ready to leave the department to go look for Vala, she came around an aisle, her arms laden, a grin back on her face.

"Daniel! Look!" she exclaimed, holding up several pairs of tiny jeans. "They were on sale!"

He didn't even attempt to reply, sensing she was on a roll. "And look at this!" she said, dumping her items in the cart so her hands would be free to show him things. She pulled out a pair of blue footie pajamas triumphantly. "Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen?" She continued to show him the rest of the things she'd found, including a pair of swimming trunks with _Finding Nemo_ characters on it, and a bib that said "Spit Happens."

With a great effort, Daniel refrained from smiling at the bib, having to hide it with a frown instead. "Are we done yet?"

Vala thought for a minute. "Let's see, we have pants, shirts, socks, shoes . . . did you get him a jacket?"

"I'm not completely incompetent."

"I think we're good in that case," she said, standing with her hands on her hips, surveying the cart. "What do you think, Ethan? Are we all done?" she asked, smiling at the little boy.

"All done!" Ethan repeated, grinning back.

As if on cue, Jack and Sam came up and dumped their armloads of toys and books into the cart. They had also found a portable crib and a little plastic booster seat to strap to a chair for meals. "There we go," Jack said, dusting his hands.

Ethan craned his head around to look into the basket behind him, and upon seeing the brightly colored packages and books, tried to reach for them. Sam handed him one of the books, and he took it eagerly, though held it upside down. He studied it for a moment, a thoughtful frown on his face that was remarkably similar to Daniel's, and then lifted his head.

"Dat?" he asked, pointing at the cover.

"It's a book," Sam supplied, taking it from his hands briefly and turning it the right side up.

"Book," he repeated, studying it again. It was a _Franklin _book, and the little turtle and his animal friends all smiled happily at the little boy. Then, peering closer, Ethan noticed something. "Buttafies!" he exclaimed, pointing out the butterfly in the corner of the page.

"I _told _you he'd like the butterflies!" Vala told Daniel with a smug smile.

He rolled his eyes and was about to explain to Jack and Sam about the butterfly car seat when they heard a loud ripping sound. They all looked down at Ethan who was frozen in place, half of one page clutched in his hand. Daniel knew he should reprimand the little boy so he'd learn not to rip pages out of books, but he didn't want to make him cry in the middle of the store. Luckily, Sam stepped in.

"Uh-oh, Ethan," she said, gently taking the book away and looking the little boy in the eyes. "You can't rip books, okay? Here, why don't you play with this instead." Before Ethan could be upset at having the book taken away, Sam reached into the cart and brought out a little stuffed leopard. Ethan took it and looked at it curiously, then smiled and hugged it to his chest.

It was Sam's turn to be smug. "I told you he'd like the leopard," she told Jack, nudging his arm a little.

Jack grimaced but Daniel could tell he was proud of her for handling the situation so smoothly. Daniel was too. "Thanks, Sam," he said.

She shrugged and smiled down at Ethan who was chattering away to his new toy, telling the leopard all about "buttafies" and "bwue ones."

They watched the little boy for a minute, and then Jack piped up. "Have you guys seen Mitchell and Teal'c?"

"No," Daniel answered. "But if they're not still in the baby section I know where they are."

Jack raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question and Sam clarified for him. "Teal'c always likes to check out the movies and Cam looks at video games. We've lost them in the electronics department before."

"Ah," Jack said in understanding.

"Let's go find them and get this stuff packed so we can go to the cabin!" Vala exclaimed, taking control of the cart and heading for the electronics. Jack, Sam, and Daniel exchanged amused glances, Daniel shaking his head a little, and followed Vala.

As suspected, they found their remaining team members browsing through the movies and Playstation games. Teal'c had a huge package of diapers under one arm and Cam was carrying a basket full of baby shampoo, baby lotion, and other things they'd need for Ethan, including a rubber ducky.

Teal'c nodded in their direction as they approached and turned to Cam who was still oblivious to their presence. "Colonel Mitchell, I believe we are finished with the shopping."

Cam looked towards them. "Oh, hi guys."

"Let's move 'em out!" Jack said, making a broad gesture.

"Move 'em out!" Ethan repeated, copying Jack's movements.

They all chuckled and began moving toward the front of the store, Ethan once again starting up an unintelligible monologue. Daniel paid for everything, despite several offers from his teammates to chip in, and they all went out and loaded it into Daniel's trunk, except for the car seat. They left the box sitting on the pavement, and made a circle around it, waiting for someone to volunteer to attempt installing it.

Finally, Cam stepped up and grabbed the box. "Oh, give me the damn thing," he said, ripping open the top.

Vala, who was holding Ethan, smacked his arm. "Don't swear in front of him!"

Cam ducked away from her, rubbing his arm. "Geez, sorry."

"I will assist you, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said, coming forward to help Cam wrestle the thing out of the box. The two of them managed to remove the seat in a shower of bubble wrap and Styrofoam, and Teal'c lifted it into the back seat.

When Ethan saw the empty box and bubble wrap and Styrofoam scattered around it, he squirmed around in Vala's arms, excited to explore the strange new substances.

"Here," Sam said, going to the trunk and rummaging around in the bags. "Let's put his shoes on."

Vala attempted to hold the little boy still while Sam got his new pair of sandals on. Then, to Ethan's delight, she put him down amidst the various forms of plastic.

"Don't let him eat it," Jack said, a faint smile on his face.

Daniel watched as Vala showed Ethan how to pop the bubble wrap. His little fingers weren't quite strong enough, so they resorted to stomping on it. The little boy was giggling hysterically, and Sam and Vala were laughing right along with him. He looked over and saw Jack grinning as well.

The sudden thought came to Daniel that Ethan must remind Jack of Charlie, at least a little bit. He'd been so concerned with how he was going to deal with this, he hadn't even thought of what it might mean to Jack. He shook his head slightly; it wasn't like he could ask Jack about it, but it didn't stop him wondering what his friend was feeling. He turned his attention to the progress of the car seat installation instead.

Teal'c was half in the car on one side, and Cam was on the other, both of them attempting to sort out the various straps and buckles the car seat involved. "How's it going?" Daniel asked, lowering his head to look inside.

Cam glanced up at him. "I think we're gonna need Sam for this one. A naquidah generator has _got_ to be simpler."

"The instructions are most unclear, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, frowning at the inch-thick booklet that had come with the car seat.

Just then, Daniel felt a tug on his jeans and looked down at a grinning Ethan. "Sty-a-foam, Dano?" he said, holding out a big chunk of the strange white stuff.

Daniel took it, unsure of what he was supposed to do with it. "Thanks, Ethan," he said, and the little boy gave him a quick hug around his knees before running back to play with the rest of the Styrofoam.

Daniel looked down at the chunk of foam in his hand and smiled, thinking of the hug the little boy had given him. He was still gazing at the white block when Sam came up and leaned against the car next to him.

"So, explain to me why he can say Styrofoam, but not Sam," she said with a grin.

Daniel looked up at her and smiled back. "Who knows."

Sam had opened her mouth to say something else when Cam poked his head out of the car. "Sam! We need reinforcements!"

Sam rolled her eyes and shared another grin with Daniel before going to help her team members, and Daniel turned his attention back to Ethan and Vala.

Ethan was now in the car seat box, which was just tall enough for him to hide in. Vala was crouched next to the box, and was poking her face over the top of the box, playing peek-a-boo with the little boy. Jack was watching them with a faint smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes when his three team members all emerged from the car.

"It wasn't _that _bad," Sam said, raising her eyebrow at Cam.

He glared at her. "That's 'cause me and Teal'c had it mostly figured out already."

Sam just grinned and shook her head, turning her attention to the others. "Are we ready to go?"

Jack looked up. "You've got all your stuff in my truck, right, Carter?"

She nodded. "Yep. I guess you guys still need to pack, right?" she said, looking around at everyone else.

They nodded and Jack clapped his hands together. "Okay, here's the plan. Me and Carter already have all our stuff, so we'll head up with the food and you guys can pack and meet us up there."

"Sounds good," Mitchell said, closing Daniel's trunk and leaning against the car. "Guess that means we're takin' your car, Jackson."

Daniel looked doubtfully at his car. "Are we all going to fit?"

Vala picked Ethan up out of the box and came over to join them. "It will be nice and cozy, Daniel," she said, giving him a big grin.

Ethan leaned out of Vala's arms toward Daniel, and he took the little boy. "Go bye-bye?" he asked seriously, looking into Daniel's face.

Daniel smiled. "We're going to go to Jack's cabin."

"Dack's cabin?" Ethan repeated, looking over at Jack.

"Yep," Jack said, coming and ruffling the little boy's hair. "And we better get going or Daniel well be driving in the dark and he'll hit a deer or something."

Daniel glared at him. "I've only done that once and it was your fault for giving me beer."

Jack grinned back impishly. "Stop whining, it didn't even do that much damage to your car."

Daniel just rolled his eyes and got in the back seat with Ethan to try and get him in the car seat.

Ethan wasn't particularly excited about being strapped into the seat, and trying to get the various straps around the squirming toddler was made even more difficult by the fact that Daniel was being distracted by the conversation going on outside the car.

"Sir, I never heard about Daniel hitting a deer! And why did you let him drive after giving him a beer? " Sam said.

"It wasn't _a_ beer, it was more like a _swallow_ of beer," Jack defended himself.

"Are we bringing beer?" Vala asked. "Because I think I'd like to see Daniel drunk."

Daniel heard Cam snort with laughter, and hurried to click the last buckle into place so he could prevent them from giving Vala any more ideas. He started to get out of the car, but Ethan reached out to him, slightly panicked. "Dano!"

Daniel sank back down on the seat. "It's okay, I'm right here," he said gently, letting the little boy grab onto his index finger. With a sigh, he resorted to leaning as far out of the car as possible with Ethan still hanging onto him. "Let's _go,_" he said, shooting a pointed glance at Jack.

"Okay, okay," Jack said, grinning unrepentantly. "Ready, Carter?"

She nodded and the two of them got in Jack's truck and pulled out of the parking lot. Cam got into Daniel's car on the other side of Ethan and managed to distract him enough with the little stuffed leopard that Daniel could get into the driver's seat, and Vala took his place next to Ethan. Teal'c had walked to the other end of the parking lot to throw the car seat box into the dumpster, and they picked him up on their way out of the lot, finally on the way.


	9. Packing

"You can hit my place first, Jackson," Cam said. "I'm closest."

"Okay," Daniel said absently, glancing in the rear view mirror at Ethan. Seeing the little boy strapped into the car seat instead of just a seat belt made him feel a lot better.

Ethan caught his gaze in the mirror and waved. "Hi, Dano," he said with a grin.

Daniel smiled back at him. "Hi, Ethan."

Ethan turned to his left. "Hi, Vawa," he said with another wave.

"Hi, Ethan!" she said, waving back.

Ethan continued this new game with Cam and Teal'c, and then started all over again. By the time they reached Cam's apartment building, he was flapping both hands and moving through everyone's names so fast they didn't have time to reply. Daniel pulled up in front of the building, and Cam hopped out, giving Ethan's hair a good ruffle.

"Be right back," he said over his shoulder as he jogged up to the front door.

Ethan watched him for a moment, and then started pulling at the car seat straps. "Go Dack's cabin!"

"This is Cameron's house," Vala explained. "We're not at Jack's cabin yet."

"Cam-ron house?"

"Yep, and then we're going to go to Daniel's house, and then back to the base, and _then_ we'll go to Jack's cabin," she said, smoothing down the hair that Cam had made stick up.

"Dano's house?" the little boy asked, looking up at Daniel for confirmation.

"Yep. We're going to my house next."

"Teak's house?" he said, looking at the large man.

"My home is Cheyenne Mountain, as is Vala Mal Doran's," Teal'c replied.

"Remember?" Vala supplied. "Where the Stargate is."

Ethan pondered that for moment, the traced a circle in the air with his index finger. "Bwue?"

Vala grinned at him. "Yep! The blue thing." At Daniel and Teal'c's confused glances, Vala clarified. "He's talking about the Stargate, of course."

Ethan frowned, his eyebrows drawing together and his mouth in a small pout. "No bwue," he stated emphatically.

"No blue," Vala confirmed, patting the little boy's knee.

Satisfied he wouldn't have to endure the traumatizing experience again, he looked back toward Cam's apartment. "Where Cam go?"

"He went to get his stuff, remember?" Vala answered.

"Cam suff?"

"For Jack's cabin," Vala reminded him.

"Go Dack's cabin!" Ethan said, pulling at the car seat straps again.

"No, we have to go to Daniel's house and then the base first."

Vala and Ethan continued their rather circular conversation, until Cam reemerged, threw his duffel bag in the trunk, and got back in the car. Ethan was distracted from trying to figure out exactly where Jack's cabin was and turned his attention to Cam.

"Cam!" he exclaimed. Before Cam could even attempt a reply, Ethan was off, speaking in rapid-fire words, likely about "Dack's cabin" and the Stargate, which he still seemed a little concerned about.

He was still going by the time they reached Daniel's apartment, to everyone's amusement. When Daniel stopped the car, Ethan stopped abruptly and pointed out the window. "Dano's house?"

"Yep," Daniel said, turning off the car and unbuckling his seat belt.

"Go Dano's house," Ethan said, pulling at the buckle across his chest.

"No, you just stay in the car, okay? I'll be right back," Daniel said. He'd been afraid this would happen. He really didn't want to take Ethan with him; he'd never get any packing done while trying to prevent the curious toddler from breaking everything he owned.

Ethan's bottom lip poked out and his eyes watered up. "Go Dano!"

"Let's let him out, Daniel," Vala pleaded, completely convinced by Ethan's pout.

Cam was too. "He_ is_ gonna be in the car for the rest of the day."

Daniel sighed heavily. "I can't watch him and pack at the same time."

"I would be happy to assist you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

Daniel couldn't think of any more excuses, and that cute little pout was pretty convincing. "Okay," he sighed. "But if he breaks anything, you guys are paying for it."

Vala grinned and began unbuckling Ethan, who bounced happily, all traces of tears gone. "Dano's house!"

Daniel shook his head but couldn't help smiling a little at Ethan's exuberance. Vala tried to carry him across the parking lot, but he squirmed and pushed away.

"Down! Down!" he said. Vala set him down on the pavement and he looked around.

"Hold his hand," Daniel said, glancing back over his shoulder as he led the way to the apartment building.

Vala reached down and took one of Ethan's hands, and Cam came over and took the other one. "One, two, three," Cam said, and on three, swung the little boy up and forward. Vala wasn't familiar with that particular Earth ritual, so Ethan was only lifted half-way, but she figured it out quickly. By the time they reached the apartment building, Ethan was laughing uncontrollably, so that they almost had to drag him along, his legs weak from laughter.

The elevator was a new experience for the little boy, and after watching Daniel press a button, he attempted to push all of them, and Daniel had to pick him up to prevent stopping at every floor on the way up.

They finally reached Daniel's apartment, and he discovered it was a little difficult to get his keys out of his pocket and get his door unlocked while holding Ethan. He got it open, and winced at the musty smell of an apartment that hadn't been lived in for almost two weeks.

Daniel handed Ethan – who was looking around in wonder – to Vala, who was closest. "_Hold_ him while I get my bag."

"He won't break anything, Daniel," Vala said, giving Ethan a little hug.

Daniel turned to Cam and Teal'c. "Please don't let either of them break anything."

Cam gave Daniel an amused salute and Teal'c inclined his head. Daniel didn't feel nearly as reassured as he had hoped, but he left them all in the living room and went back into his bedroom to pack, listening for any crashing or shattering.

As he stuffed clothes into a duffel bag, he could hear Ethan's little voice and those of his team members, though he couldn't quite make out what anyone was saying. He stopped for a moment and just listened to the murmur of voices, realizing his apartment was usually pretty much silent. He decided he kind of liked the extra noise, and had the sudden thought that Ethan's voice might become a more permanent fixture in his home.

Storing those thoughts away in the back of his mind, he finished packing and headed back toward the living room. He heard Ethan asking what everything within sight was, and Vala, Cam, and Teal'c answering to the best of their knowledge. He paused for a moment in the hallway, a smile growing on his face as Vala started making up names for the obscure artifacts in his living room. He was tempted to stay there in the hallway and just listen for a moment, but Jack had been right, driving up curving mountain roads in the dark was not his forte, and they needed to get going while they still had daylight.

He stepped into the living room, duffel over his shoulder, just in time to see Vala let Ethan get too close to a large clay disk hanging on his wall.

"Vala!" he cried, but it was too late. Ethan leaned out of her arms and grabbed the edge of the disk, pulling it off the wall.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the crash, but it never came. He cracked one of his eyes open. Teal'c had rushed forward and was holding the disk up, inches from the floor. Daniel let out the breath he'd been holding. "Thanks, Teal'c."

"You are most welcome," Teal'c said calmly, placing the artifact back on the wall.

Daniel turned to Vala, who had the grace to look a little apologetic, and Ethan, who wasn't quite sure what had happened. "Vala, I told you not to let him break anything!" he said in exasperation.

"Well, he _didn't_ break anything!" she replied, the apologetic look already gone.

"He _would_ have if it hadn't been for Teal'c!"

"Nothing's broken, Daniel!"

"That's not the point!"

"Well, what _is_ the point?"

Cam tried to interject. "Guys . . ."

They ignored him. "The point is that he _could_ have!"

"So? He didn't!"

Daniel opened his mouth to continue the argument, but a loud sniff from Ethan stopped him. "Dano mad?" he said softly, his eyes filling with tears.

Daniel was silent for a long moment. He'd once again lost his temper with the little boy and made him upset, and it was suddenly enough to convince him that he couldn't be a parent.

"Dano mad?" the little boy asked again.

Daniel shook his head slowly. "No, I'm not mad."

"Vawa mad?" he said, turning to look at Vala.

She kissed his cheek. "No, I'm not mad, either. Not at you."

There was a bit of an awkward silence, and Cam cleared his throat. "Okay, now that we got that figured out, let's get this show on the road, people."

Daniel slumped down onto his couch.

"Jackson?" Cam asked, motioning toward the door.

"There's no way I can do this," he said, staring at a spot of carpet just past his left knee.

"You gonna let this one little thing decide for you? Kids break stuff, Jackson, it happens!" Cam said, throwing his hands in the air.

"It's not that, it's . . . if I get mad at him for stuff like that, what am I going to do if something really bad happens? What if I yell at him, or-or spank him or something?"

"Are you kiddin'?" Cam said incredulously. "You can be pretty patient when you wanna be, and so what if you gave him a little swat on the butt once in a while?"

"Parenting a child requires much practice, Daniel Jackson. You should not let one incident determine your competency as a guardian," Teal'c added.

"It was my fault, Daniel," Vala admitted quietly, stepping over to them. "You were mad at me, not Ethan."

Daniel looked up at them. "You guys want me to keep him, don't you."

No one answered for a moment. Vala was the first to speak. "Yes, a little," she said softly.

"Yeah, I mean, it kinda feels . . . right," Cam said with a shrug.

Teal'c just nodded.

Daniel sighed heavily and pushed himself off the couch. "It doesn't really matter how much we _want_ to keep him, what matters is that we do the best thing for Ethan."

Vala kissed Ethan's cheek again. "We think keeping him _is _the best thing."

"All we're sayin' is don't decide anything right now. Wait until the end of the week at least," Cam said, ruffling Ethan's hair.

Daniel nodded and picked up his bag. "The end of the week."

He turned to head out the door, but Ethan grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Dano!" He turned and Ethan leaned out of Vala's arms. Daniel managed to take him with one arm, since the other one was still holding the duffel bag, and Ethan wrapped his arms around Daniel's neck. Cam took his bag, and they all walked back out to the car, Ethan still holding tightly onto Daniel, and all of them quiet with their own thoughts.

They encountered a problem when they opened the trunk, however. With all the stuff they'd bought for Ethan spread out in grocery bags, there wasn't much room for Daniel's bag, let alone Teal'c and Vala's stuff.

"Great," Daniel said, sighing.

Vala surveyed the trunk critically. "Don't worry, we just need two – no, three more bags. If we get it all together, everything will fit just fine," she said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at Daniel expectantly.

He sighed again. "I'll go grab something."

He didn't even attempt to hand Ethan to someone else; he knew it would only end in him taking the little boy with him anyway. He was still subdued, not even interested in pushing the buttons in the elevator, and Daniel was getting worried he was feeling sick again.

"Do you feel sick, Ethan?" he asked, rubbing his back gently. The little boy shook his head against Daniel's shoulder. "Are you sad?" Daniel tried. Ethan didn't respond, just tightened his hold. "I'm sorry I yelled," he apologized, tilting his head down to try and see the little boy's face.

Ethan tucked his head down into Daniel's shoulder, avoiding his gaze, and Daniel sighed and gave up as the elevator dinged and he stepped onto his floor.

He struggled with the keys again, but got into the apartment and carried Ethan back to his room, hoping to excavate a couple of old bags from his closet. It was difficult while holding Ethan, but every time he tried to put the little boy down, he would hang onto Daniel with all his strength, and Daniel just couldn't bring himself to make him cry again.

They finally made it back down to the the parking lot with another duffel bag and an old backpack. Vala wrinkled her nose at the slightly dusty bags, but took them and began organizing all the things they'd gotten for Ethan. Daniel had to admit, Vala had been right. Combining all the stuff in the two bags saved a lot of space, though it would still be a little tight with both Teal'c and Vala's bags.

"We _finally_ ready to go, people?" said Cam, who was leaning against the car and fiddling absently with Ethan's stuffed leopard.

"I believe so, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said, closing the trunk and going around to the passenger door.

"Good," Cam said, pushing off the car and following Teal'c around to the other side.

Daniel opened the back door and started to lean in to get Ethan in his car seat, but Vala got in the way and held out her hands. "C'mere, baby," she said to Ethan, avoiding looking at Daniel. Apparently, she hadn't quite forgiven him yet for their altercation.

Ethan obediently leaned out of Daniel's arms and let Vala take him. She got in the car, and Daniel shut the door and got in the driver's side without a word.

Everyone was quiet on the way to the base, Ethan picking up on the somewhat somber mood that had descended on everyone. Daniel kept glancing at him in the rear view mirror. Cam had given him the little leopard back, and it was tucked under one arm, and the little boy had his thumb in his mouth, staring past Vala out the window.

They reached the base and Teal'c and Vala got out, Vala giving Ethan a quick kiss on the head. The little boy turned to look at Daniel and popped his thumb out. "Where Vawa go?"

"She has to go get her stuff now," he explained, glad Ethan was speaking to him again.

"Teak?"

"Yep, he's getting his stuff, too."

The little boy fell silent again, putting the thumb back in his mouth.

They sat in silence for a minute, then Cam finally asked, "You okay, Daniel?"

Daniel didn't really know how to answer that question. "Uh . . . " He cleared his throat. "Can I answer that in a week?"

Cam chuckled. "Yeah. This is pretty crazy."

"Cwazy?" Ethan piped up, not bothering to take his thumb out.

Cam grinned and ruffled the little boy's hair. "Yup, you're crazy, kiddo."

"Dano cwazy?"

"Yessir, you get it from him," Cam said with a laugh.

Ethan perked up enough to take his thumb out of his mouth. "Cam cwazy?" he asked, smiling at Cam.

"Definitely," he replied, tickling Ethan's ribs.

The little boy squealed and tried to squirm out of the way, but he couldn't get very far in his car seat. Cam persisted and Ethan resorted to trying to hit him with the stuffed leopard, both of them laughing now.

Daniel turned in the seat to watch them, a strange mix of emotions going through him. He was a little jealous of Cam's natural ability to play with Ethan and make him laugh, but also concerned about the conversation they'd had in his apartment. Vala, Cam, and Teal'c all had made it fairly clear they thought he should keep the little boy. He kept turning over in his mind what they had told him.

As he watched Cam play with the little boy, he had the sudden thought that by the end of the week it was going to be even harder to let someone else adopt Ethan, regardless of what was best for him. If they were all already so attached, by the end of the week things would become very difficult if he decided Ethan would be better off with someone else. Well, deciding to keep him would make things difficult too . . .

"Jackson!"

Cam's voice cut through his thoughts and Daniel looked up to see Teal'c and Vala already in the car and ready to go.

"We are ready to depart, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, raising his eyebrow.

"Sorry," Daniel muttered, realizing they'd been trying to get his attention for a while. He put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot, looking back to see that Vala had joined in the tickling and Ethan was bopping them both with the stuffed leopard, laughing so hard he could barely breath.

A grin snuck up on Daniel suddenly as he listened to the laughter coming from the back seat. He didn't often get an opportunity to hear his teammates laugh like that, and Ethan's laughter was definitely contagious. He just hoped the little boy would stay entertained on the two-and-a-half hour drive.

* * *

I have no idea where Jack's cabin actually is, and while it seems most likely it's in Minnesota, for the purposes of this story, we're pretending it's in Colorado. :)


	10. Home Away from Home

This is (of course) for all of you who have ever traveled with a small child for _any _length of time. It's sort of incredible how much tension a crying kid in a car can cause. Say that three times fast. :)

* * *

They hadn't been driving long when they had an issue.

"What is that smell?" Vala asked suddenly, wrinkling her nose and looking at Cameron.

"Hey, wasn't me!" he said defensively.

Daniel had a pretty good idea what it was. "Uh, check Ethan's diaper."

Cam groaned. ''Ah, man. I am _not_ changing him."

Daniel sighed and pulled to the side of the road. "Do any of us actually know how to change a diaper?"

Silence reigned.

Daniel sighed again and unbuckled his seat belt. Vala was already working on getting Ethan out of the seat, and when he opened the back door, she readily handed the little boy to him, holding her breath.

Daniel gingerly took him, the smell hitting him in full force. "Where am I supposed to put him?"

"The rear end of your vehicle should provide a suitable surface," Teal'c contributed.

"Dack's cabin?" Ethan asked, looking around the deserted highway in confusion.

"I wish, buddy," Daniel said with a sigh. He looked down at the dusty car with a frown. "Vala, did you keep any of the plastic bags from the groceries?"

"They're squooshed up in your trunk," she said, poking her head out of the car.

"Cam . . ."

"I'm on it, Jackson," Cam said, hopping out and standing ready at the back of the car while Teal'c leaned over and popped the trunk. He opened it and rummaged around and finally came up with a fistful of plastic bags.

"Just . . . spread them out a little, I guess," Daniel said, gesturing at the hood with one arm.

Cam laid a couple of bags out to put Ethan on, and Vala handed Daniel a diaper and the package of wipes that had been in her purse.

"I'm going to change your diaper, okay Ethan?" Daniel warned the little boy before laying him down on the plastic bags.

Ethan stared up at him with a little frown but didn't protest as Daniel removed his sandals and then his pants. He hesitated then, and Cam sighed heavily.

"C'mon Jackson, just get it over with!"

"Okay, okay," Daniel muttered and pulled off the sticky tabs. With Ethan holding still, the process was easier, though Daniel was thoroughly grossed out. Ethan started getting impatient as Daniel tried to get the clean diaper on, and tried to roll away, but Cam restrained him with a gentle hand, and Vala got out of the car and started talking to him about Jack's cabin, even though she'd never been there.

Daniel managed to get the fresh diaper, pants, and shoes back on the little boy, and Vala even had hand sanitizer in her purse, but none of them had any idea what to do with the dirty diaper. They had it tied up in one of the bags, but they couldn't just put it back in the car until they got to a garbage can.

"I say we just throw it in the bushes," Cam said. "It's pretty much biodegradable."

Daniel frowned. He didn't particularly think that was the best course of action, but what other option did they have? He must have pondered it too long because Cam grabbed the bag out of his hands and chucked it as far as he could.

"Geez, people," Cam said, shaking his head and getting back into the car.

Daniel handed Ethan back to Vala so she could get him in the car seat, and they were on their way again.

Not even fifteen minutes later though, Ethan started to get upset. He squirmed around in his car seat, not really crying, just kind of whining.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Cam asked.

Ethan just whined louder and pulled at his seat belt.

"He wants to get out, Daniel," Vala said leaning forward.

Daniel's shoulders slumped. "If we don't keep going now, I'm going to be driving through the worst part of the road in the dark. Maybe he's just bored."

"We shoulda kept some of his new stuff in here with us," Cam said, looking back as if there was some way he could retrieve some of the toys and books from the trunk.

"Daniel, let's stop and get some things out for him," Vala said, stroking the little boy's hair.

Daniel tried to say no, he really did, but Ethan's whines were escalating into crying, and it was making him feel a little panicky. "Okay," he said. "But leave him in the seat."

He pulled off again and popped the trunk so Vala and Cam could get out some toys, and Ethan became even more upset when they got out without him.

Daniel turned and reached a hand back to try and comfort the little boy. "Hey, Ethan, it's okay buddy, Cam and Vala are going to get some toys for you to play with."

"No!" Ethan shouted, and threw his stuffed leopard to the floor of the car, his sobs renewing in earnest.

"You don't want the toys? Remember the butterfly book? Do you want that?" Daniel tried.

"No!" he screamed, two big tears running down his face.

"It is likely he will become interested in the toys and books once he sees them, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c assured him.

Ethan calmed down marginally when Vala and Cam got back in and started pulling things from the backpack they'd stuffed most of his toys in, but each thing only held his attention for a few seconds, and then he'd push it away and start crying again.

"It's not working," Vala said ten minutes later, sounding close to tears herself.

Daniel was determined not to stop again; they still had about two hours left to go. "Did you try the butterfly book?"

"What are you talking about?" Cam practically shouted.

"The turtle . . . uh, Francis or something," Daniel said, gritting his teeth.

"We've tried _everything_, Daniel!" Vala cried.

"Teal'c? Any ideas?" Daniel said, still determined not to pull over again.

"It is quite possible he is hungry," Teal'c said, glancing back at the crying toddler.

"Of course!" Vala said. "Poor baby, he hasn't eaten anything all day!"

"Um . . ." Daniel's mind raced to come up with something in his car Ethan could eat. "I think there's a box of Saltines back there somewhere."

"I have some gummy worms," Vala offered, pulling the package out of her purse.

"Crackers would be better," Daniel said with a frown. "I think they're under Teal'c's seat."

Cam was bent in half, rummaging around under the seats. "Aha! Got 'em!" He held up the crackers like a trophy and ripped open the package. "Here you go, buddy." He handed a cracker to Ethan, and the little boy started to push it away, but Cam grabbed another cracker from the package and took a bite. "See? It's good!"

As soon as Ethan realized it was something to eat, he stopped crying and tried to shove the whole cracker into his mouth, getting crumbs everywhere, and held out his hand to Cam for more.

Everyone in the car sighed in relief at the sudden silence the cracker had produced.

"Geez, kid," Cam said, watching the little boy shove crackers into his mouth. "Guess you _were_ hungry."

"Poor baby," Vala said again, still holding the gummy worms at the ready. "We should have thought of that sooner!"

Daniel was thinking along the same lines. How could he be a parent when he couldn't even remember to feed the kid?

Ethan ate almost the entire sleeve of crackers and a bite of one of Vala's gummy worms which he promptly spit out, giving her a slightly accusatory glare. With his tummy full, his interest in the toys and books was renewed and Cam and Vala gladly played with him for the next fifteen minutes. Vala was reading him the Franklin book when Daniel looked in the rear view mirror and saw that Ethan was sound asleep.

"Vala," he said softly, catching her eyes in the mirror and jerking his head toward the little boy.

Vala cocked her head in confusion, pausing in her reading, and turned to look at Ethan. A soft smile slid onto her face as she saw him, his small body completely relaxed, head dropped at what should have been an uncomfortable angle, and mouth hanging open.

Cam smiled at the sight as well, and he grabbed the stuffed leopard and wedged it between Ethan's shoulder and head so the little boy's neck wouldn't be quite so stretched. "There ya go, cowboy," he whispered.

Daniel looked out the window into the daylight and was surprised for a moment that Ethan had gone to sleep so early. It was only a little after six. Then he remembered that on Ethan's planet, it was after ten o'clock, which also meant the little boy would wake up _way_ before Daniel was going to want to.

The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence, besides some quiet arguing about what radio station to listen to before the reception went out. Finally, they made it to the cabin, and even before dark.

Jack and Sam must have heard them pull up, because they came out of the cabin to help unload.

"What the crap took so long? We've had dinner ready for half an hour!" Jack said, smacking Daniel on the back of the head as he got out of the car.

Daniel glared at the back of Jack's head as the General went around to the trunk. "We made good time, considering."

"What happened?" Sam asked, pulling one of Vala's duffel bags from the trunk.

Vala, who was still sitting in the car trying to get all the toys and books back in the backpack, answered. "Daniel had to change Little Daniel_,_ and then he – Little Daniel, I mean – got hungry and bored so we had to get the toys. And," she said, shooting a grin at Jack. "We could have made much better time if I were driving."

Daniel frowned. "That's because speed limits don't mean anything to you, and can you not call him that?"

Cam, who had been working on getting a very limp Ethan out of his car seat, now had the little boy nestled against his shoulder. "Kinda works though, Jackson."

Daniel decided to ignore his team mates and moved around to the back of the car to get his bag.

They all made it inside, managing to get all the bags in one trip. Jack and Sam had already brought in the portable crib and booster seat and they were waiting in the living room.

As they walked into the cabin, the smell of hamburgers hit them, and Vala stopped in the doorway and breathed in the scent deeply. "Mmmm! I am starving!" she declared.

Jack dropped the bags he'd been carrying and looked around at the various backpacks and duffels. "Let's get some of this stuff squared away and then we'll eat."

"Sleeping arrangements, sir?" Cam asked.

"I figure Carter and Vala will share a room, and that leaves the four – well, five of us," he corrected, looking at the sleeping little boy in Cam's arms.

"I call Teal'c," Cam said immediately, casting an apologetic glance at Daniel. "Big Daniel snores and Little Daniel pukes."

"Will you _please_ stop calling him that?" Daniel sighed.

"Okay, fine. Me and the Daniels will take the other room, but you two get the bunk beds," Jack said, pointing at Teal'c and Cameron.

"That is agreeable, O'Neill," Teal'c said, inclining his head.

"I call top bunk!" Cam said.

They all gave him a strange look. "What?" he said, half-shrugging as one shoulder was occupied by a small head. "I always wanted a bunk bed."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Let's just get the stuff up here so we can eat."

They set up the portable crib first so Cam could put Ethan down, and Daniel carefully tucked a blanket around the little boy and got the new baby monitor running before going back to get his and Ethan's bags.

When everyone had the bags in the appropriate rooms, they all migrated to the smell of the hamburgers in the kitchen.

"I'm impressed, Jack," Daniel said as Jack plopped a hamburger patty on his plate.

"Oh?" Jack replied, a grin growing on his face.

"Yeah, I didn't know you could cook something _not _on the grill."

Jack took a good-natured swat at Daniel's arm with the spatula, nearly knocking Vala's paper plate from her hands.

"Hey!" she protested, balancing the plate again.

Jack grinned at her as soon as he finished glaring at Daniel. "Sorry."

Daniel watched them, finding a seat at the table. He rolled his eyes, but had to admit to himself that this was the most relaxed and happy he'd felt all day. It was nice to just sit down and pretend it was the old days with _all _his team members, past and present.

And yet . . . He glanced at the baby monitor sitting on the counter with the realization that he missed the excited chatter Ethan had kept up all day. He hoped the little boy wasn't too hungry or thirsty; he hadn't had anything to drink all day. He was probably dehydrated by now! Daniel was about to get up and get some water for Ethan, but a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"I'm sure he's fine, Daniel," Sam said, sitting next to him with her plate of food. He looked at her, wondering how she'd known what he was thinking.

She smiled and read his mind again. "You were staring at the monitor."

Daniel ducked his head, a little embarrassed that he was so transparent. "I was just thinking he's probably thirsty."

"He's asleep, silly," Vala said, sitting on his other side.

"Yeah, but he hasn't had anything to drink all day," Daniel replied, frowning.

"One day isn't gonna kill him," Cam said, joining them at the table.

"We can give him lots of juice and food tomorrow!" Vala exclaimed, squirting a disturbing amount of ketchup onto her burger.

Daniel grimaced at the ketchup overload. "I'm kind of afraid to feed him. It's probably Earth food that made him sick."

Teal'c sat down next to Cam. "It is my experience that children are extremely adaptable. I am certain young Ethan will be fine."

"Yeah," said Jack, taking the last remaining place between Teal'c and Sam. "You're just worried he's gonna puke on you again."

Daniel shot him a glare. "Well, I'd like to think I'm a little more concerned about Ethan. He is –" he stopped. He'd been about to say "he is my kid after all," but it didn't sound quite right. "He's . . . just a little kid." His attempt to cover it up failed miserably. He could tell from the expressions on his friends' faces that they had heard what he hadn't said.

The awkward silence was broken by Vala squirting mustard onto her burger with a loud, unpleasant sound. Cam turned to her and raised his eyebrows, and she smacked him with an indignant, "what?" It was enough to break everyone back into their usual banter.

Daniel leaned back in his chair, taking the good-natured teasing every time he glanced at the baby monitor and doing his best to ignore Vala who kept insisting he "eat and keep his strength up."

They finished dinner and retired to the living room where Jack started a fire. Cam, Vala, and Teal'c sat down on the large rug and started a game of Uno. Jack claimed his armchair and Daniel sank down into the huge leather couch next to Sam and stared into the flames.

"You look tired. You okay?" she asked after a minute.

He turned toward her and forced a smile onto his face. "I honestly don't know."

She patted his arm and smiled back. "Everything will work out."

Daniel couldn't quite understand how she could say it with such certainty, but it did make him feel better. "Thanks."

They fell silent, warm and full and comfortable, enjoying watching Cam, Teal'c, and Vala play Uno; Vala kept trying to cheat and Teal'c always managed to call her on it. Daniel glanced over at Jack and caught him staring into the flames with a slight smile on his face. _Probably thinking up the best way to get everyone to go fishing tomorrow,_ Daniel thought.

The fire and the Uno game eventually died down, and they'd fallen into light-hearted conversation. Cam was now squished on the couch next to Sam, Vala was leaning against the couch, her shoulder barely touching Daniel's leg, and Teal'c was cross-legged on the rug. Everyone was quiet, pleasantly sleepy and basking in the comfort of each other's presence, when a sudden cry sprang from the baby monitor. Before Daniel could dislodge himself from the deep couch, Vala jumped up.

"I'll get him!" she cried, dashing down the hallway.

"Vala –" Daniel managed to get out of the couch and follow her, leaving the rest of his teammates to exchange eye-rolls and smiles.

By the time Daniel got down the hall, Vala had picked Ethan up out of the portable crib and was stroking his hair and swaying from side to side. Ethan was already calmed down, just whimpering a little around the thumb in his mouth, his head resting on Vala's shoulder.

Daniel stopped in the doorway. Vala was so focused on Ethan, she didn't notice him for a minute, and he found himself enjoying the rare opportunity to see Vala stripped the mask of flirtation and pride that she usually kept firmly in place. She finally noticed him and narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Daniel realized he was smiling and quickly dropped the expression. "Uh . . . nothing."

"I said I would get him," Vala whispered, still stroking the little boy's hair.

"I know, I just . . ." he shrugged.

Vala didn't reply, just turned her attention back to Ethan.

Daniel stood shifting his weight from foot to foot, debating going into the room. "Okay, well, I'm just going to . . ." He gestured toward the living room.

Vala acted like she hadn't heard him, so Daniel turned and started to leave the room, but Ethan's head popped off Vala's shoulder.

"Dano!" he said around his thumb.

Daniel stopped and walked hesitantly in the room. "I'm right here," he said, unable to resist resting a hand on the little boy's back. Ethan laid his head back down on Vala's shoulder and gave a little contented sigh.

Daniel and Vala avoided each other's eyes despite their close proximity, and finally Ethan's breathing deepened and his thumb fell out of his mouth.

"I think he's asleep," Daniel whispered, giving the little boy a final pat before taking his hand from his back. Vala ignored him.

"I'm just gonna . . . go."

She didn't even glance in his direction as he walked out the door and headed back down the hallway. He reached the living room and found that Cam and Teal'c had already headed off to bed, and Sam and Jack were conversing in low tones. Sam looked up as she heard his soft footfalls and smiled. "Everything okay?"

"Oh, um . . . yeah. Vala's just . . . um, I'm going to go get ready for bed I think," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and already heading back towards the bathroom.

"Daniel." Sam's voice stopped him, but he didn't turn. "Do you want to talk about . . . anything?"

He swiveled half-way, just enough so that his friends could see his forced smile. "No, I'm good."

There was silence and Daniel could feel both Jack and Sam's eyes on his back. "I guess . . . we'll see you in the morning then," Sam said quietly.

"Goodnight," he said. He met Vala coming out from his and Jack's room, and she deemed him significant enough to say goodnight before disappearing into the room she was sharing with Sam across the hall. He shook his head and crept into his dark room to grab his bag and then headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed.


	11. Water, Crackers, and Mama

Daniel was still awake by the time Jack finally came in and got into the other bed. Daniel knew it was past two AM, but he couldn't seem to shut his brain off and go to sleep. It didn't help that Ethan kept making little sighing noises in his sleep and as soon as Jack dropped off he started snoring. Sometime around 3:00, Daniel rolled out of bed and went to check on Ethan, for lack of anything better to do. He peered into the portable crib, moonlight illuminating the room just enough for Daniel to see that Ethan's thumb had fallen out of his mouth, though his little hand still rested near his face, and that he had kicked most of his blankets off. He was still in the t-shirt and shorts he'd been in all day, but at least Daniel had remembered to take his little sandals off. Daniel leaned over and brushed the top of Ethan's head with his fingertips, trying to remind himself that the little boy was actually there, and not just some crazy dream.

"Daniel, what are you doing?"

Daniel jumped at the sound of Jack's whisper from across the room, and straightened up from the portable crib. "Nothing," he whispered back.

Jack was silent and Daniel remained at the crib, watching the steady rise and fall of Ethan's chest, his little face relaxed perfectly in sleep.

He was just about to crawl back in bed when Jack spoke again. "They're pretty amazing when they sleep, huh?"

Daniel took a moment to answer, the quiet comment from the retired general surprising him. "Yeah," he said softly, not taking his eyes from the sweet little boy. "Jack . . ." Daniel hesitated, unsure how to phrase his question.

"Yeah?"

"Ethan . . . sometimes . . . does he ever remind . . ."

"Remind me of Charlie?" Jack interrupted.

Daniel bit his lip. He hadn't wanted to dredge up painful memories for Jack, but he was curious. "Yeah."

Jack was silent for a long moment, and Daniel thought he wasn't going to answer. Then, in a voice barely audible, he said, "Every little boy reminds me of Charlie, Daniel."

Daniel sank down slowly onto his bed, the weight of his friend's admission crushing down on him. "Jack . . ."

"Go to sleep, Daniel," Jack said with a weariness Daniel had rarely heard from the man.

But he didn't go to sleep.

He laid back down but he was still awake when Ethan began to stir and whimper a couple hours later, and he got out of bed, grateful for the distraction from his thoughts about Jack and Charlie and this new little person he didn't know what to do with. He took the few short steps to the portable crib and peered through the dimness of the room to see Ethan rubbing his eyes with both hands and squirming around, still mostly asleep.

"Hey, Ethan," Daniel whispered, reaching a hand down and touching the top of the boy's head.

Ethan stilled and dropped his hands from his eyes, blinked a few times, and looked up at Daniel with a disgruntled pout. "Mama?"

Daniel withdrew his hand. "Your mom isn't here, Ethan," he said, as gently as he could.

Ethan rubbed his eyes again and sat up, holding his arms up in a request to be held. Daniel obliged, wondering again why the kid seemed so comfortable with him. They might share the same genes, but they were strangers, really. Ethan cuddled into his shoulder and sighed.

Daniel considered trying to get him back to sleep, but it was after 5 AM which meant it was 9 AM for Ethan, and he doubted either of them were going to get much more sleep, so he carried the little boy out into the kitchen and flipped on the light. Both of them squinted in the sudden light, and Daniel paused to let his eyes adjust before going to start the coffee. As he turned the sink on to get the water, Ethan raised his head and looked at the stream coming from the faucet.

"Wad?" he asked, pointing.

Daniel looked at him, trying to decipher what he meant by "wad." "That's water. You want some?"

Ethan nodded. "Wad. Firsty."

Daniel was pretty sure the little boy was saying he was thirsty. He grabbed a small cup from Jack's cupboard and filled it with water before handing it to Ethan. That turned out to be a mistake. The little boy tipped the cup back far too much and ended up dumping most of the water on himself, choking at the same time. Daniel, a little alarmed by Ethan's coughing, patted him as hard as he dared on the back, water still spilling from the cup in Ethan's hand.

The little boy's coughing subsided by the time every drop of water had spilled from the cup onto his and Daniel's shirts. "Lotsa wad," he gasped, looking at the cup wide-eyed.

Daniel took the cup from him and looked at their soaking-wet shirts. "Sorry, buddy. I guess you need a change of clothes, anyway."

Ethan reached back for the cup. "Firsty," he repeated, leaning out of Daniel's arms.

"You didn't get enough the first time?"

"Firsty!" Ethan said, bouncing impatiently.

"Okay, okay. Not so much this time, huh?" He filled the cup with only a couple inches of water this time and warily handed it back to the toddler. "Be careful."

Ethan managed to get most of the water down his throat without choking though he dribbled a few drops on his already soaked shirt. He sighed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "More, Dano?"

Daniel gave him another small amount of water, which he promptly finished and then asked for more. Daniel filled the cup up several more times, getting the coffee started in between refills. Finally, Ethan seemed satiated and returned the cup to Daniel.

Daniel was debating whether or not to have a cup of coffee or change his and Ethan's clothes first, when the little boy patted his cheek to get his attention. "Hungwy," he stated, his big blue eyes filled with gravity.

Daniel couldn't help smiling at his serious expression. "Hungry, huh? Um . . . what do you want to eat?"

Ethan stared at him, but was not forthcoming with any food items. "Hungwy," he repeated.

Seeing he wasn't getting any clues as to what the little boy wanted to eat, Daniel started opening cupboards at random. On the third try he spotted a brightly colored box of animal crackers and remembering that Ethan had seemed to enjoy the crackers he'd had in the car yesterday, got them out and opened the box. He handed a cracker to Ethan and the little boy looked at it curiously.

"Dis?" he asked, holding it right in front of Daniel's nose.

"It's called a cracker. It's good," Daniel said.

Ethan studied it for another moment before taking a tentative bite. He apparently liked it because he held his other hand out for another cracker. Daniel gave it to him, and to his surprise, the little boy began squirming to get down. Daniel set him on the kitchen floor and Ethan looked around for a moment before beginning to explore. Daniel watched in fascination as Ethan wandered around the kitchen, a cracker in each hand, opening the cupboards he could reach and stretching up on his toes to see if there was anything on the table. Daniel was reminded that this whole setting – this whole planet! – was completely new and strange to Ethan, and he found himself admiring how adaptive and unafraid the toddler seemed.

The smell of hot coffee invaded his thoughts and he turned from watching Ethan's explorations to get himself a cup. He turned back, taking a careful sip of the steaming liquid, and realized Ethan was no longer in the kitchen.

"Ethan?" he called softly, walking forward to peer down the hall. There was no sign of the little boy and he didn't answer.

Daniel set his mug down on the counter and went into the living room to look. To his relief, Ethan had made his way in there and was continuing his exploration, stooping down to look under the couch and dribbling cracker crumbs everywhere.

"Ethan," Daniel said, trying to coax him back into the kitchen as he didn't think Jack would appreciate cracker crumbs all over the large rug that covered the living area. "Come in here."

The little boy looked up when he heard his name, but soon resumed his exploration, heading toward the brick fireplace. Daniel hurried to grab him before he touched the grate; he knew it wasn't still hot, but he didn't think the little boy should get in the habit of being anywhere near it. He caught Ethan's hand in his own and crouched down so he was more or less at the child's eye level.

"You can't touch this, okay?" he said, pointing at the fireplace.

Ethan just stared at him, and Daniel had no idea if he understood. Ethan pulled away, crackers half-eaten and still trailing crumbs from his hands, and went over to the large couch, clambering up on it, smearing crumbs everywhere. Daniel winced and hoped Jack had a vacuum somewhere. He was about to go pick the little boy up and take him back to the kitchen, when Ethan discovered the couch was bouncy. He bounced a couple times on his little rear, letting out a giggle and looking up at Daniel with a grin. Daniel couldn't help but smile back, even though the little guy was spreading more cracker crumbs around with each bounce. Giving in to a sudden urge, Daniel plopped down on the couch next to Ethan, bouncing the little boy into the air. The toddler laughed, and Daniel answered with a chuckle of his own, bouncing on the couch again.

"Daniel?"

Daniel ceased bouncing and looked over his shoulder to see a sleepy-eyed Sam approaching. He jumped to his feet. "Sam! Did we wake you up?"

She shook her head. "No, I couldn't sleep. Kept having weird dreams."

Ethan stood up on the couch. "Hi, Fam!" he said, around a mouthful of cracker.

Sam smiled at him and came over to ruffle his hair. "Hey, Ethan."

He held up one of his half-eaten crackers. "Some?" he offered.

"No thanks, buddy," she said, backing away a little. "Why is he soaking wet?" she asked Daniel suddenly, noticing the waterlogged state of Ethan's shirt.

"There was a little incident when I tried to give him a drink," Daniel admitted, looking down at his own wet shirt.

Sam looked as though she was trying to suppress a giggle. She cleared her throat. "Do I smell coffee?"

"Yep. I was trying to get Ethan to come back in the kitchen so I can finish mine."

Sam watched the little boy who had returned to bouncing and giggling on the couch. "Doesn't seem too interested, does he."

Daniel shook his head. "Nope."

"You _could_ bring your coffee in here," she said, raising an eyebrow.

Daniel glanced at Ethan and frowned. "I just have this feeling that a cup of coffee, a bouncy kid, and the carpet are a bad combination."

This time, Sam's giggle escaped. No doubt she was picturing the many horrible scenarios that particular combination could produce. "I'll stay with him in here, if you want. On the condition that you save me some."

"Deal," Daniel said, feeling rather desperate for his coffee at this point. He headed for the kitchen, reached the counter, and picked up his mug, breathing in the scent before taking a sip.

"Dano!"

Daniel sighed. He should have known Ethan wouldn't let him out of his sight for long. The little boy ran back into the kitchen, Sam following with a shrug. Ethan leaned against Daniel's leg and munched on the soggy crackers in his hands contentedly.

Sam looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she moved toward the coffee machine. "He's pretty attached."

Daniel steeled himself with another sip of coffee. He could guess where this conversation was going. "Yeah," he replied cautiously.

Sam poured steaming coffee into a mug and turned around to face him. "Daniel, I don't want to pressure you in any way, but . . . You know what? It's okay. Never mind."

Daniel sighed and looked down at the little boy leaning into his leg. He knew what she'd been about to ask, but he didn't have an answer, even after spending all night thinking about it. "Sam, I don't know what I'm going to do yet."

She smiled thoughtfully. "It's just that . . . Jack and I had an interesting conversation last night."

Daniel stared at her, glad that the conversation was turning away from him but a bit thrown by her statement. "Oh? What about?"

"Kids," she said, staring into her coffee mug.

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "_Whose_ kids?"

She looked up and smiled at him. "Kids in general, mostly." Her face softened and she looked away again. "He talked to me about Charlie."

Daniel looked down, remembering his own conversation with Jack in the middle of the night. "He told me Ethan reminds him of Charlie," he said softly.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

There was a brief silence in which the only sound was Ethan sucking the cracker remains from his fingers, before Daniel decided to delve a little deeper. "So, what else did you talk about?"

"Just . . . just that it might be nice to have a kid around . . . and neither of us would mind helping with him. If you decide to keep him," she added, studying her coffee.

Daniel groaned softly. "That's basically what Vala and Teal'c and Mitchell said, too."

Sam looked up from her mug in surprise. "They did? All of them?"

Daniel nodded and looked down at Ethan. "They seemed . . . excited almost."

Sam shrugged, though Daniel could tell she was glad the rest of the team seamed to agree with her. "We're not trying to make the decision for you Daniel, we just . . . well, look at him," she said, grinning at Ethan. "How could you not want that little guy around?"

Ethan looked up at her, his face and hands decorated with soggy cracker crumbs. "More cakka?"

Sam looked back up at Daniel. "See? How adorable is that?"

Daniel shook his head but couldn't help smiling at the little boy. "Another cracker?"

Ethan nodded and held out his arms to Daniel. Daniel set his mug down and lifted the little boy into his arms before going over to the cupboard that housed the crackers and grabbing a couple more for him. "Yeah, he's real adorable until he starts puking on you," he said, answering Sam's previous question.

She crossed the kitchen and stood next to him, laying a hand on his arm. "Like I said, we don't want to make the decision for you, we just want you to know you have our support. Either way."

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Now, how about the two of you get into some dry clothes?"

Daniel let out a short breath. "Sounds good." He left Sam in the kitchen and headed back down the hall. He opened the door slowly, but it still creaked and he winced and looked over at Jack's bed. His friend didn't stir. Daniel moved around to his side of the room where all of the bags filled with his and Ethan's things were.

"No sweep!" Ethan suddenly cried, his voice sounding louder than a nuclear explosion in the quiet room.

Daniel's knee-jerk reaction was to clap a hand over Ethan's mouth, but not only did he get slimy cracker crumbs all over his palm, Ethan got upset and started to cry. Daniel swore under his breath and grabbed two bags at random and ran from the room, hoping Ethan hadn't just woken everyone in the house up. The little boy was still crying as Daniel careened into the living room, and Sam came in from the kitchen, looking like she expected to see blood.

Daniel dropped the bags on the floor and sat on the couch, tucking Ethan's head into his shoulder, both to try and comfort him and to muffle the sound. That was not what Ethan wanted however. He screamed louder and pushed away from Daniel.

"Want Mama!" he cried, struggling against Daniel's arms.

"Ethan, calm down, I'm not mad," Daniel said, desperately.

"Want Mama!" the little boy sobbed, flailing around.

Daniel stopped trying to hang onto him and let him slide to the floor. As soon as his bare feet touched the carpet, he took off and hid behind Jack's big armchair, still crying brokenly.

"What happened?" Sam asked, still hovering in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

"I . . . I'm not sure. I just covered his mouth so he wouldn't wake Jack up," Daniel said, still too surprised by Ethan's outburst to even get up off the couch.

"Probably too late for that, huh?"

Daniel sighed and heaved himself off the couch, heading toward the armchair. He crouched down and looked at the little boy who was curled up in a ball behind the chair, still crying. "Ethan, c'mere. I'm not mad, I promise. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Not want you!" the little boy screamed, tears dripping down his cheeks.

That hurt more than Daniel cared to admit. "Who do you want?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Want Mama!"

"She isn't here right now, buddy."

"Want Mama!"

"Ethan . . ."

"Want Mama!"

Daniel was beginning to get uncomfortable from crouching down so long, and a sudden wave of weariness and frustration swept over him. "Ethan, your mama isn't here, okay? She's never coming back!" Daniel regretted the harsh words as soon as he said them.

Ethan stared at him with watery eyes, hurt and fear evident on his face. Then he collapsed completely, covered his head with his small arms, and sobbed into the carpet. Daniel sat down on the floor with a thump and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes.

A gentle hand rested on his shoulder for a moment, and he knew without looking that it was Sam.

"Ethan?" she said gently. "Look what I have, sweetheart."

Daniel took his hands from his eyes. Sam was crouched next to Ethan, and was holding the Franklin book and the stuffed leopard. He realized he hadn't even grabbed the bag with Ethan's clothes in it – he'd grabbed the one with the toys. Sam sat on the carpet and placed a hand on Ethan's back. "Look, buddy. I have your book with the butterflies on it, and your leopard."

After a minute, Ethan lowered his arms from around his head and sat up a little, curiosity overcoming him. He looked at Sam, the tears already drying on his cheeks, and sniffed. Suddenly, he sat up and snatched the leopard from her hand, hugging it to his chest. Then he climbed into Sam's lap and stabbed the book with his index finger. "Say," he said, which was apparently his way of asking to be read to.

Sam shot Daniel a half-smile and opened the book, beginning to read to the little boy. Daniel stared at them for a moment, angry at himself that he'd yelled at Ethan, and angry at himself that he'd made him cry in the first place.

"What's going on?" a familiar voice said from behind him. He groaned. Vala was _not_ who he wanted to deal with right now. In fact, he really didn't want to deal with _anyone_ right now. He stood up, and glanced at her. She was wearing her pajama pants and a tank top, and her hair was in complete disarray. She moved toward him, and peered around the chair, following the sound of Sam's voice. "What've you done to him?" she said, seeing Ethan's tear-stained face.

With great effort, Daniel didn't yell at her. He bit his lip, hard, and brushed past her into the kitchen, trying to take deep breaths. He prayed to whatever gods might be listening that she wouldn't follow him, and that Ethan would be content with Sam for a few minutes. He gripped the back of a kitchen chair, his head lowered, and listened to the quiet murmur of Sam's voice as she continued to read to Ethan. A new pang of guilt hit him. The little boy probably hated him now. His stomach twinged as he remembered the hurt in Ethan's eyes when he'd told Daniel he didn't want him.

"Daniel Jackson." Teal'c's quiet voice came from somewhere behind him. Daniel took a deep breath. He should have known he wouldn't get much time to think with this many people in a not-so-large cabin. Out of everyone though, Teal'c was who he preferred right now. With Teal'c, you didn't have to say anything. If there was someone who understood the need for silence, it was the large Jaffa.

"Are you alright?" The floor creaked slightly as his friend stepped closer. Daniel was glad he hadn't asked about Ethan, and then felt bad for being selfish.

"I'm fine," he said. He hadn't meant to say it through gritted teeth.

"That is odd," Teal'c said, taking another step. "Given the situation, it could be expected of you to feel many things, but "fine" is not likely one of them."

Daniel looked up at his friend, suddenly comforted by his solid presence. "You're right, Teal'c. I'm . . . everything _but_ fine."

Teal'c closed the final distance between them and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You often expect too much of yourself, Daniel. You must realize it will take time for you and your son to become used to each other."

Daniel bit his lip. Teal'c had called him by his first name only. He did it more often now, but only when he was trying very hard to get a point across. "Teal'c, he said he didn't want me. He ran away from me."

Teal'c squeezed his shoulder. "Even if he does not think he wants you, he _needs_ you."

Daniel's breath stopped for a moment in his chest. Before he could respond, though, he heard a now familiar voice.

"Dano!"

Ethan ran into the kitchen, the stuffed leopard under one arm and the Franklin book in the other hand. He held out his arms, and surprised, Daniel picked him up.

"'Ook, Dano. Buttafies an' tutta," he babbled, waving the book in Daniel's face.

Daniel completely missed what the little boy was saying in his astonishment at the rapid change in the toddler's mood. Ethan started whacking him in the face with the book to get his attention and he snapped out of it.

"Wh-what?" he managed.

Ethan stopped hitting him and brought the book to hover right in front of his nose. "Tutta!"

"He's saying turtle," Sam supplied, from the doorway. Vala was right behind her, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh, um . . . turtle?"

Ethan nodded solemnly. "An' buttafies."

"And butterflies," Daniel repeated. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

Ethan looked right into his eyes. "More cakka?"

Daniel let out a short laugh, mostly out of relief that Ethan still liked him for whatever reason. "Sure, buddy."

* * *

Merry Christmas, everyone! :D


	12. Fishing Makes You Tired

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Darn Real Life. ;) Just so you know, these long gaps between chapters will likely continue while I'm in school (basically until April). Homework scares my muse away. Anyway, to help make up for it, here's a really long chapter! Hope you like it. :)

* * *

There were no more breakdowns for the rest of the morning, though Daniel had to sneak off to take a shower while Sam read Ethan another book, and the little boy came close to another meltdown when he decided he didn't want to wear pants. Daniel couldn't quite stand another tantrum, so the little boy ended up running around in a t-shirt and diaper. As Cam wisely put it, "his legs'll be easier to clean than pants if he spills."

They also discovered in the course of the morning that Ethan wouldn't even touch scrambled eggs, and he would only eat the crust off toast. He did, however, love fresh strawberries, and it turned out to be a good thing that he wasn't wearing pants as he quickly became covered in sticky red juice.

"Take him to the tub and hose 'im down," Cam suggested as everyone sat or stood watching the little boy try and lick strawberry juice off his elbow.

"There's just a shower," Jack reminded him, leaning against the counter and studying Ethan. "It might freak him out."

"Give him a bath in the sink," Sam suggested, going over to the sink and glancing back at Ethan to gauge whether or not he'd fit.

Vala glanced at Jack from her chair next to Ethan at the table. "How about a basin of some kind? That's how I used to bathe."

Daniel looked at her, eyebrows drawing together.

She rolled her eyes at him. "When I was a child, of course."

He nodded once and turned back to watching Ethan who was beginning to try and wiggle out of the booster seat they'd strapped to the chair.

"I got 'im," Cam said suddenly, getting off the kitchen stool he'd been perched on. He went over to the sink first and grabbed a kitchen towel, soaking it with warm water, then unbuckled Ethan from the seat and stood him on the counter. Ethan was too startled to move as Cam pulled his shirt off and wiped him down with the towel. "There," Cam said, stepping back but keeping a hand on Ethan's arm so he wouldn't fall. "Good as new."

Daniel blinked at him. "Since when were you good at this kind of stuff?"

Cam looked around at them. "None of your mamas ever gave you spit baths? Mine used to give me one after pretty much every meal."

Sam raised her eyebrows, a grin growing on her face. "Until you were sixteen, right?"

He frowned at her and lifted Ethan to his hip. "Funny."

Ethan touched his cheek. "Funny?"

Cam grinned at him. "You got it, little man."

The little boy cocked his head to the side. "I Efan."

"Right. Sorry, I forgot."

Ethan seemed to accept the apology, but wiggled to get down.

"I'll get him another shirt!" Vala sang out, bouncing into the living room where most of Ethan and Daniel's bags had migrated.

"Alright, campers," Jack said, rubbing his hands together. "Who wants to go down to the lake?"

Daniel had been expecting that, and he'd come up with a good excuse. "I'll stay up here with Ethan. He probably shouldn't be that close to deep water."

"Oh, c'mon. I used to-" he hesitated, pain whisking across his face so briefly only those who knew him best could have seen it. "He'll have plenty of people to keep an eye on him if we all go down. Of course, I only have four poles . . ."

"I was thinkin' of going for a run, sir," Cam said, a little hesitantly.

Jack waved his hand. "You can do what you want, Mitchell. Retired, remember?"

Cam seemed relieved and headed for the hallway. Teal'c started after him. "I will accompany Colonel Mitchell, O'Neill."

"Aw, c'mon, T. It'll be like old times," Jack protested.

Teal'c smiled at him. "We will be here for several days. I am certain I will eventually end up at the lake."

Jack smiled back at him, shaking his head slightly. "I'll count that as a promise."

Teal'c lowered his head slightly and followed Cam down the hall. Jack turned to Sam. "Carter?"

To Daniel's mild surprise, she smiled and nodded. "Sounds good." She turned to Daniel who was watching Vala attempt to get a shirt on Ethan. "Bring Ethan down, Daniel. I bet he'll like it. Besides, what else are you going to do with him?"

Daniel frowned. She had a point. He had no idea what kind of activities a kid Ethan's age enjoyed. "Fine. That means we'll probably have to get him into some pants, though. And shoes."

"And a jacket. It's still pretty cool up here this time of year," Jack added.

"There," Vala exclaimed, finally getting Ethan's shirt over his head. "Now for the pants. And the closed-up shoes, not the sandals. Ooh! That means the little socks!" She swung Ethan to her hip and headed for the living room.

Daniel rubbed at his face, her enthusiasm driving him crazy for some reason. Well, more than usual.

"Better check his diaper, Daniel," Jack said.

Daniel felt like cracking his head against the wall repeatedly. Remembering all the stuff that went into a simple outing with an almost-two-year-old seemed impossible. _One step at a time,_ he thought. _Get a clean diaper on him before Vala gets the pants on._

He followed Ethan and Vala into the living room, and found the little boy bouncing himself gently on the big couch, his thumb in his mouth, and Vala rooting through the bag.

"Did we put the diapers in there?" Daniel asked her, looking over her shoulder.

He hands paused in the process of digging through the bag. "No, the package was too big. I think we put it with all the other things in your room."

"Don't put pants on him yet. I'll be right back," Daniel said, turning to head down the hallway.

Ethan slid off the couch and padded after him, grabbing onto Daniel's jeans with the hand that wasn't half in his mouth. Daniel slowed his pace a little so Ethan's short legs could keep up.

Cam and Teal'c were coming out of the room at the end of the hall after changing into their jogging clothes, and Cam crouched down to Ethan's level.

"Hey, little buddy. I'll see ya in a bit, okay?"

Ethan looked at him for a moment, then popped his thumb out of his mouth. "Buh-bye?"

"Yep. We'll be back," Cam said, ruffling the little boy's hair.

Ethan opened and closed his fist twice, waving, before putting his thumb back in his mouth. Cam grinned at him and stood. He looked at Daniel. "You two goin' fishin'?"

Daniel sighed. "I guess so."

Cam clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck."

Cam and Teal'c walked past them, Teal'c giving Daniel one of those knowing smiles, and Daniel opened the door to his and Ethan's room, the little boy still hanging onto his pant leg.

Daniel found the package of diapers and got one out, but paused before picking Ethan up. He looked down. "You're not going to make this difficult, are you?"

Ethan stared back at him with his wide blue eyes.

"I'll take that as a maybe." He lifted Ethan to the bed, and he let Daniel lay him down calmly enough, looking around the room in mild curiosity. Daniel took a deep breath and changed the soggy diaper, with only one half-hearted escape attempt from Ethan.

"Not so bad, right?" Daniel said, making sure the last sticky tab was firmly attached. Ethan just held out his arms and Daniel picked him up and headed back to the living room where Vala was waiting with one of the little pairs of jeans and socks and shoes all picked out.

She held out her arms and Daniel leaned toward her so she could take Ethan, but he held on tightly, hiding his face in Daniel's shoulder. "I'll do it," he said, grabbing the pants from the couch. Vala shrugged but he could see she was a little hurt.

He sat Ethan on his lap and started putting the pants on, but the little boy kicked his legs and tried to wiggle down to the floor. "C'mon, Ethan, please?" Daniel said, hanging onto him with one arm around his middle.

"Nooo!" the little boy cried, struggling against him.

"Look, baby," Vala suddenly said, pulling something out of the toy bag. Ethan stopped squirming and looked at the brightly colored object. Daniel had no idea what it was, but there were little brightly colored boxes set above several little knobs and buttons. Vala didn't seem to know either. She sat on the couch, close to Daniel so Ethan could reach the toy, and studied it for a moment. She pushed a yellow button down with one finger, and the corresponding box sprung open, revealing a plastic dog.

Ethan stared up at Vala, then pointed to the puppy. "Dis?" he asked.

"That is an Earth dog," she supplied.

"Urf dog?" he repeated.

"Yes," Vala said, smiling. "An urf dog."

The corner's of Daniel's mouth twitched and he shared a brief glance with Vala. "P-a-n-t-s," she spelled before turning one of the knobs on the toy, making an elephant pop up.

With Ethan distracted, Daniel was able to get his pants, socks, and shoes on. He stood with the little boy in his arms just as Jack and Sam came into the room, Sam pulling on a jacket and Jack holding the fishing rods and his tackle box. "Ready, kids?" Jack said jovially.

"Almost," Daniel replied. He turned to Vala who was putting the pop-up toy back in the bag. "Do you know where his jacket is?"

"Right here," she said, pulling it from the other bag. Ethan let her guide his arms through the holes and she zipped it up and pulled the hood over his head. "There you go," she said, grinning at the little boy.

He immediately pushed the hood off his head with a little pout. Vala reached to put it on again, but Daniel stepped away. "I'm sure he's fine."

She looked for a moment like she was about to stick her tongue out at him, but she settled with a mild glare before turning to Jack.

"So, Jack, I've never been fishing before," she said, bouncing a little. "Well, not for fish, anyway."

Jack raised his eyebrows, but Daniel could tell he was glad to see her exuberance. "It's one of the funnest things you'll ever do, I guarantee it."

Daniel and Sam rolled their eyes at each other, but followed Jack and Vala out the front door. Jack had been right, it was fairly cool, though the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off Jack's pond and drying any remaining dew from the morning off the pine trees. Ethan began bouncing in Daniel's arms and stabbing his finger in random directions, babbling incoherent things. Daniel just listened to his chatter, glad that the little boy was so excited to be outside.

They reached the dock and Jack started rigging the poles, explaining everything to Vala who was a captive audience for the moment. Sam stood next to Daniel, shaking her head, but watching them with a slight smile as Ethan continued to point and babble.

"I wouldn't have pegged Vala for the fishing type," Sam said after a moment.

Daniel shrugged. "The only consistent thing about Vala is that she's always surprising. If that makes sense."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, actually it does."

Daniel was soon distracted by Ethan squirming to get down. He set the little boy down but kept a hold of his hand. Ethan didn't seem to mind, and tugged Daniel toward the lake. "Wad, Dano! Wad, wad, wad," the little boy said, looking back at him.

Sam followed them. "What is he saying?"

"I'm pretty sure that's how he says water," Daniel said, holding Ethan just out of reach of the pond. The little boy strained against his hand, apparently wanting to go play in the water. "What am I supposed to do with him out here? It's too cold to play in the water."

Sam shrugged. "Let him touch it. Maybe he's just curious."

Daniel crouched down next to Ethan so he could wrap an arm around him as the little boy leaned forward to dip his fingertips in the water. He took them out almost immediately shivering and looking back at Daniel with a slightly accusatory glance. "Code," he announced, wiping his fingers off on the sleeve of Daniel's jacket.

Sam chuckled. "See? Now he's not curious anymore."

Daniel stood, picking up Ethan. "Okay, now what?"

"Daniel!" Vala shouted from the pier. He looked over and saw her standing with fishing pole in hand, ready to cast, and a big grin across her face. "You're not going to want to miss this! It will be the best fishing you've ever seen!"

He rolled his eyes at Sam but headed for the pier, rather acutely aware that Vala was about to go flinging around an object with a hook on the end of it. They stopped several feet from Vala and Jack, but Vala was apparently satisfied they could see, and cast the lure Jack had put on her line out into the lake. It sailed out and entered the water with a small splash, the strike indicator bobbing on the surface.

Jack whistled. "Not bad, Miss Mal Doran, not bad at all."

Vala grinned at him, and then turned to Daniel and Sam to give them a triumphant look. Ethan had watched everything closely, and he was now staring out at the lake.

"Dat?" he asked Daniel, pointing to the barely visible red and white strike indicator.

"That's so you can tell when a fish bites your lure," Daniel explained, repeating what Jack had told him the first time he'd taken him fishing. He had no idea if Ethan would understand, but he couldn't think of a simpler explanation.

"Fish?" Ethan asked, cocking his head.

"Yeah, Vala is trying to catch a fish."

Ethan pondered that for a moment. "I do it?"

"Um . . . it's not really a little kid activity . . ." Daniel said, looking doubtfully at the fishing gear. He didn't think Ethan could even hold one of the poles, and a bunch of sharp hooks and a very small boy didn't seem like a good combination.

"Daniel! Bring the kid over here!" Jack suddenly shouted.

Sam laughed. "I guess you're outnumbered."

He frowned.

"Daniel, Jack won't let him do anything that would hurt him. Just let him try it for a minute. He'll probably get bored of it soon, anyway."

She had a point. Daniel looked at Ethan who was still watching Vala intently. "Okay, fine. I guess we're going fishing."

They headed over to join Jack, Daniel keeping a careful eye on Vala in case she decided to start flinging the hook around again. As they stepped onto the dock, Ethan tried to get down, but Daniel was reluctant to let him wander free so close to the water.

"He's not going to fall," Jack said, looking up from tying on another lure. "Put him down and hang on to his hood if you're worried."

Deciding that was a good compromise, Daniel set the little boy down and grabbed onto his hood, but Ethan pulled away, obviously frustrated by the restraint.

"He doesn't like it, Jack," Daniel said, picking Ethan back up.

"Nooo!" Ethan screamed, leaning out of Daniel's arms.

"Jack!" Vala suddenly shouted.

They all looked toward her, Ethan momentarily forgotten. Her pole was jerking wildly and Vala was hanging on with both hands, clearly unsure what to do.

"You may have caught a shark," Jack said in mock surprise, his hands still full of fishing line and the lure.

"I'll get it," Sam said, taking the line and lure from Jack so he could help Vala.

Ethan was still screaming and trying to get down, and Vala wasn't being very quiet herself, shouting in excitement as Jack coached her on bringing the fish in. Daniel just hung onto Ethan, not sure what to do and feeling rather overwhelmed. Suddenly, Sam was pulling on his arm. She tugged him a couple of feet down the bank and cast the lure Jack had been working on out into the lake, careful to aim clear of Vala's line. Then she handed the pole to Ethan, who immediately stopped crying and looked down at the pole Sam was helping him hold.

He grinned at Sam. "I do it," he declared.

"Good boy," Sam told him, continuing to help him hold the pole as it was a little too heavy for him to hold by himself.

Daniel looked at Sam, shaking his head and feeling dumb that she had had to come his rescue twice before lunch. "How do you know what to do?"

Sam shrugged. "One time when Mark's kids were really little, his wife had to go to the ER for an appendectomy. It was late at night and I was the only one he could get a hold of, so I went to stay with the kids. It was the first time I'd ever stayed with them by myself, and they were freaking out. The only thing Mark told me before running out the door was the secret to parenting is distracting them."

Daniel frowned. "That's it?"

She smiled at him. "It worked for me. I got them interested in a game of Operation and they were fine."

Daniel thought about that. "That can't possibly be the _only_ secret."

Sam laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "Of course not. But let's take it one at a time, huh?"

He allowed himself a small smile just as Vala called to them. "Look! Look, Daniel, Samantha! I caught it!"

They looked back toward the dock to see Vala holding a rather small fish up by the fishing line and bouncing on her toes in excitement. Jack was looking at her and shaking his head, but he had a big grin on his face.

"Hey, where's a camera?" Jack called to them.

"Daniel, hold the pole; I've got one in my bag," Sam said.

Daniel shifted Ethan so he could hold him with one hand and the pole with the other hand, and Sam raced back to the cabin to get the camera.

"Hurry!" Jack shouted after her. "This one's not big enough to eat so we'll have to put 'im back soon!"

Then Ethan noticed the fish. "Dat?" he said, completely forgetting about the fishing pole he was holding and pointing toward the dock.

"That's a fish," Daniel said, trying to keep a hold on the squirming toddler and the pole.

"Fish? I see it!"

Ethan pushed away from him, trying to get down so he could go see the fish, and Daniel was forced to practically drop the pole so he didn't drop Ethan. He wedged the reel against a rock, hoping that would be enough to prevent a fish from biting the lure and dragging the pole into the water, and walked back towards the dock, Ethan content to stay in his arms now that they were moving toward the fish.

They got to the dock at about the same time Sam did, and Vala held up the fish proudly for a picture. "That's perfect, Vala," Sam said, grinning.

"I see, I see!" Ethan said, reaching toward the fish.

"We need to put him back in the water, buddy," Jack said.

"Let him pet it really quick," Vala said, coming closer, the fish flopping on the end of the line.

"Pet it?" Daniel questioned, sharing an amused smile with Sam. Ethan reached out to touch the fish, but it gave a particularly violent flop just as his small fingers came in contact with its scales and the little boy recoiled.

"Don' like it!" he cried, grabbing Daniel's jacket.

Jack laughed. "I guess when you're not that much bigger than the fish, you're allowed to get creeped out. Bring it here, Vala."

She obliged, bringing the fish over to him so he could take the hook out and slip it back in the water.

"Goodbye, Hubert!" Vala called, as the fish swam away from the dock.

"You named it?" Daniel asked, not really that surprised.

"Of course, Daniel. Didn't he look like a Hubert?" she said, turning away from the lake and grinning at him.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, he kind of did, actually."

Daniel and Jack both rolled their eyes. "You're not supposed to name fish," Jack said.

"People name fish all the time," Sam said, still giggling.

"_Pet _fish," Jack grumbled. Daniel could tell he was amused, though.

"I caught him, I can name him if I want," Vala said, pretending indignance.

"Fish buh-bye?" Ethan interrupted, staring at the spot of lake that Jack had released "Hubert" into.

"He had to go home," Jack said, inspecting the lure he'd just removed from the fish's jaw.

"Home," Ethan repeated, still staring into the water.

Sam stepped up to them, brandishing the camera. "Hey, Daniel, take him back over to the pole so I can get a picture of him fishing."

Daniel took the little boy back to the spot where they'd left the fishing pole, Sam following them and Jack watching as Vala cast her lure back into the lake. Daniel picked up the pole and handed it to Ethan, keeping a hand on it himself so the little boy wouldn't drop it. Ethan took the pole eagerly and stared out into the water.

"Where fish go?" he asked, looking up at Daniel.

"Remember? He had to go back to his . . . house," Daniel said, hoping that was the best way to explain it to the little boy.

"Come back," Ethan said, staring intently out at the water.

"I don't think he wants to come back. You might catch a _different_ fish, though."

"Daniel, look over here!" Sam said.

He turned his head toward her, as did Ethan, and she held up the camera and snapped a picture.

"Sam," Daniel said. He hated having his picture taken, and she knew it.

"Sorry," she replied, grinning widely.

He glared at her, but knew she would know he didn't mean it. Too much.

The rest of the morning passed quietly. It seemed that Hubert had warned the other fish in the lake, as no one else caught anything until just before lunch, even though both Sam and Jack rigged poles as well. Ethan got bored of holding the pole and asking where the fish were, and Daniel let him walk around for a while. The little boy seemed fascinated with everything; picking up rocks and leaves and showing them to Daniel. Vala got bored after a while too, and left her pole to wander around with Ethan and Daniel, showing extreme exuberance over each little pebble Ethan presented to them. Daniel was surprised to find that he could actually spend a whole morning with Vala and not get annoyed with her. Of course, it helped to have Ethan there; his happiness was contagious, but Daniel found himself enjoying the way Vala interacted with the little boy, and the sound of her laughter.

Just as Daniel started to think about lunch, Jack called them over, his rod tip bouncing wildly. "Daniel! Bring the kid over here!"

Daniel picked Ethan up, which was much faster than letting him walk, and headed back to the dock, Vala in tow.

"Let him hold it," Jack said, crouching down so the pole was at Ethan's level.

Daniel put the little boy down and Jack helped him hold the pole, one arm around the little boy to make sure he wouldn't fall off. The pole bounced in their hands, making Ethan giggle, and Jack showed him how to reel it in. Daniel thought, with a pang, that Jack had probably done this exact thing with Charlie, a long time ago. He didn't see any pain in Jack's eyes at the moment, however, just excitement. Jack and Ethan finally managed to get the fish in, another small one, and Jack held it out to the little boy. Ethan backed away and grabbed onto Daniel's jeans.

"Don' like it!"

Jack chuckled and removed the hook before setting the fish free. "You'll get used to it, little guy."

"That one was Lenore," Vala announced.

"Where did _that_ come from?" Jack asked. "You can't name a fish Lenore! I had a Great-Aunt named Lenore!"

"Well," Vala said, sweeping her hand dramatically. "Her memory lives on!"

"I'm getting lunch," Jack grumbled, gathering up the fishing gear.

Sam bent to help him, giggling, and Daniel lifted Ethan to his hip and headed for the house, Vala following them.

"Buh-bye, fish!" Ethan said over his shoulder, waving at the lake.

When they got back to the cabin, they found Teal'c and Cam making lunch. "Hey, how'd it go?" Cam greeted them jovially.

"I caught one!" Vala said, bouncing over to Teal'c and attempting to steal a slice of the tomato he was cutting up at the counter. He whacked the back of her hand casually and continued to cut the tomato.

"And Ethan got one, too," Sam said, shooting a mischievous glance at Jack.

"Hey, hey, hey. I claim half of both those catches. Which means I'm the only one who caught a whole fish," Jack protested, setting the fishing gear down.

"That's not true!" Vala said, glaring at him, distracted from glaring at Teal'c. "I caught Hubert all by myself."

"Hubert?" Cam asked.

"Don't ask," Jack grumbled, wandering over to the counter, and the food.

"Thanks for getting lunch ready, guys," Sam said, attempting to change the subject.

"It's not like it was too hard," Cam said, grinning. "Just sandwiches."

"Speak for yourself, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said. "These tomatoes were most difficult to slice."

Sam, Jack and Daniel all shared a grin, recognizing Teal'c's subtle brand of sarcasm.

Cam frowned. "Someday, I'm gonna be able to tell when your kiddin' or not."

"All I can tell is that I'm starving!" Vala exclaimed. "And Muscles won't let me have one tiny slice of tomato!"

"They are for the sandwiches, Vala Mal Doran," Teal'c said gravely.

"Fine," she said, grabbing a paper plate and plopping two pieces of bread on it. "Now will you give me some?"

Teal'c smiled slightly and delicately placed a slice of tomato on one of the slices of bread.

Vala grinned, and moved down the counter, adding slices of meat and lettuce that Cam and Teal'c had set out, to her sandwich.

Everyone else followed suit, shaking their heads and smiling at Vala's antics. Daniel didn't particularly want to balance Ethan and a plate of food, so he moved to the table to set the little boy down in his booster seat. As soon as he started to lean down, however, Ethan cried out and wrapped his arms and legs around Daniel as far as he could reach.

Teal'c noticed. "Daniel Jackson, allow me to make your sandwich."

Daniel was about to refuse the offer; he wanted to be able to make his own stupid sandwich, but the fact that he hadn't really slept at all the past two nights was starting to catch up with him, and it _would_ be difficult to make a sandwich with Ethan hanging on him.

He sighed. "Thanks, Teal'c. I don't know what Ethan will eat . . ."

Teal'c smiled. "I will get him a little of everything."

Daniel sank down into a chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He really was tired. Ethan seemed to be getting tired as well, because he laid his head on Daniel's shoulder and rubbed his eyes with one hand while the other hand moved up to his mouth so he could suck his thumb.

Vala plopped down next to them. "Nap time," she declared, smiling at them both before taking a big bite of her sandwich.

Daniel was too tired to be annoyed at the way she had said that so matter-of-factly. He just relaxed into the wooden kitchen chair as much as possible and glanced over to make sure Teal'c wasn't putting mustard on his sandwich.

As everyone settled in at the table with their paper plates of food, Vala recounted, and wildly exaggerated, the tale of how she had caught Hubert, while Jack inserted corrections and eye rolls. Daniel ate his sandwich – made exactly the way he liked it – and tried to get Ethan to eat something off the plate Teal'c had fixed for him. The little boy was more interested in sucking his thumb than eating lunch, however, and refused to eat more than a bite or two of turkey, but Daniel decided not to push it. He was too exhausted for another battle of wills with the one-year-old. As soon as he finished his sandwich, he stood with Ethan in his arms.

"I'm going to go try and get him to sleep," he announced, moving away from the table.

"Get some rest yourself, Daniel," Jack commanded, giving him a pointed look.

Daniel just nodded and moved down the hall and into the bedroom. He sat down on his temporary bed, Ethan relaxed and heavy in his arms, and took the little boy's shoes and jacket off. As soon as he leaned against the headboard, Ethan's head popped off his shoulder, and the toddler's eyes met his. "Dano," he said, taking his thumb out of his mouth.

"What?"

"No sweep."

Daniel sighed. "Ethan, you're tired, I can tell."

The little boy shook his head, pouting and pushing away. "No!"

Daniel got up from the bed and tried pacing back and forth, hoping the movement would make Ethan sleepy, but the toddler remained wide awake, his blue eyes scanning the room. Daniel made several circuits around the small bedroom, and Ethan slowly began lowering his head to his shoulder. Just as the little boy yawned and put his thumb in his mouth, loud laughter came from the kitchen, and Ethan's head came up. "Pway!" he said, squirming to get down.

Daniel inwardly cursed his teammates and bounced Ethan. "It's time to sleep, Ethan," he said.

"Nooo!" the little boy screamed, pushing against Daniel's chest. Daniel resumed pacing, holding onto Ethan who struggled harder and screamed louder the tighter he held him. Finally, Daniel couldn't stand it anymore and put the little boy down, a bit harder than he meant to. Ethan didn't seem to notice, just went to the closed door and stretched up to reach the knob, still crying.

Daniel opened the door, and stood waiting for Ethan to go into the hallway. The little boy turned and looked at him and held out his small hand, tears still pooling in his eyes. Daniel sighed, his frustration lessoning at the pleading look on Ethan's face, and let the little boy grab his index finger and pull him into the hall.

They met Vala coming in from the kitchen, concern written across her face as her eyes skipped from Daniel to Ethan's tear-stained face. "What happened?"

Daniel just shook his head.

"Wasn't as tired as we though, huh?" Cam said, coming up behind Vala.

The rest of the group followed, and Ethan held out his arms to Daniel, a little nervous at the amount of people crowding into the hallway. Daniel picked him up, wondering why the kid wanted to be held now, but not two minutes ago.

"Well," Jack said, "Looks like we're going to have to wear him out a little bit first. Who's up for football?"

Daniel stared at him. "Jack, he's not even two. I don't think he's going to be able to play football."

"He can be on my team!" Vala declared. "If Muscles joins us, I'm sure we can take the rest of you." She wiggled her eyebrows at Cam in a challenge.

"You're on," he said, pointing a finger at her.

"See, Daniel?" Jack said, grinning at him.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Now all that we need to do is find a football," Jack said, moving toward the back door.

"Do you even have one up here?" Sam asked sceptically.

"Of course I do, Carter. Just not exactly sure of where it is," he said, sending her a look over his shoulder.

"I'll help you look, sir," Cam said.

Vala jumped in front of him. "Me too!"

The three of them disappeared out the back door, and Teal'c and Sam returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up from lunch. Daniel went to the living room and slumped down on the couch, Ethan still in his arms. The little boy slid off his lap and padded over to Jack's large easy chair. Somehow, the _Franklin_ book had ended up there, and Ethan picked it up and clambered back onto Daniel's lap.

"Say?" he said, waiting for Daniel to take the book.

Daniel sighed and took the book, opening it to the first page. He began reading, and Ethan settled back against him, the telltale sound of thumb-sucking soon evident. As the toddler grew more relaxed in his arms, Daniel's eyelids started to droop . . .

* * *

"Hey, where'd Jackson and the squirt get to? The general found his football!"

Sam shushed Cameron with a finger to her lips as he burst through the back door, Vala and Jack right behind him. "Be quiet, guys." She gestured toward the living room, smiling.

The three of them tiptoed into the living room. They didn't see anyone at first, but then they heard faint snoring from the couch and peered over the back. Daniel was sprawled out on the large couch, Ethan nestled securely under his arm, the _Franklin_ book laying open and forgotten on Daniel's chest, both of them sound asleep.

"Carter!" Jack whispered, walking back toward the kitchen. "You get a picture? 'Cause Daniel is totally drooling."

Sam grinned and nodded. "Several."


	13. Telthyn

A gentle tapping on his cheek, which was rapidly growing not-so-gentle, woke Daniel. He opened his eyes to see Ethan staring at him intently. The little boy was sitting on his chest, and his finger was hovering, ready to poke Daniel again if he closed his eyes. Daniel yawned and lifted Ethan off his chest so he could sit up. The little boy stood on the couch next to him, still staring at him.

"Hungwy."

Daniel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and watched as Ethan slid down off the couch and held out his hand. Daniel smiled at him and extended his index finger so the little boy could grab it and lead him to the kitchen. Ethan tugged at him and he stood, noticing that Jack was snoring softly in his chair. He couldn't see anyone else, but heard faint voices coming from outside.

Ethan, who had already figured out where to get food, led Daniel to the fridge and reached up to be held. Daniel lifted the toddler to his hip and opened the fridge, letting Ethan see what was available.

"You want more turkey?" Daniel offered, pointing the the bag the leftover turkey was being kept in.

Ethan shook his head and stabbed a finger at the strawberries. "Dis," he said.

"Strawberries?" Daniel asked, picking up the carton.

The little boy nodded, bouncing happily and making a grab for them. "'Tawbies!"

Daniel held the strawberries out of his reach, remembering the mess the little boy had made that morning. "Okay, a couple strawberries but then you should eat something else. And we should probably take your new clothes off."

Daniel set the strawberries on the table and stood Ethan next to them so he could remove the little boy's pants and t-shirt. The toddler struggled against him, reaching for the berries, but it didn't take Daniel long to get him stripped to his diaper. He strapped the little boy into his booster seat and handed him a strawberry for each hand. Ethan took a bite and grinned up at Daniel, the pink juice already running down his chin. Daniel smiled back at him and absently brushed the hair out of Ethan's eyes.

"Don't make too much of a mess, okay?" Daniel said, taking the strawberries back to the fridge. He got out the turkey again and found the lettuce and a couple of slices of tomato, thinking that Ethan should probably have some vegetables. He searched through Jack's cupboards grabbing the paper plates and a sippy cup in hopes that he could minimize the mess Ethan was likely to make.

"All gone!" the little boy sang out, holding up his sticky, empty hands for Daniel to see.

"Do you want some turkey now?" Daniel said, placing a slice of the lunch meat on the plate.

Ethan nodded, sucking the strawberry juice off his fingers. "Wad?"

"Water, too?" he confirmed, placing the plate in front of the little boy.

Ethan nodded again, his whole body bouncing with the movement as he reached for the turkey. He picked up the whole slice and was about to start stuffing it in his mouth when Daniel realized he should probably break it up a little.

"Hold on," he said, taking the slice. He ripped it into smaller pieces and Ethan grabbed them and popped them into his mouth as fast as Daniel could tear them. "Hungry, huh?"

Ethan just looked at him, his cheeks full of turkey. Daniel smiled at him, reminded of a chipmunk, and turned to fill up the sippy cup with water. When he handed it to the little boy, he just stared at it, and then looked up at Daniel in confusion.

"It's your water," Daniel explained. "See, like this." He picked up the cup an mimed drinking before giving it back to Ethan.

The little boy took it, but just stared at it with a frown. "Wad?"

"Yeah," Daniel said, pointing to the spout. "It comes out right-"

His phone rang in his pocket, cutting him off. He looked at it and realized it was General Landry's personal phone. Taking a couple steps away from the table, he quickly flipped it open.

"Dr. Jackson."

"Dr., this is General Landry. How are things going?"

Daniel glanced at Ethan who was shaking his sippy cup, still unsure how to get the water out. "Fine, so far. Is something wrong?"

"No, not exactly. We just have a visitor from the boy's planet here who would like to speak to you."

Daniel frowned. "Who?"

"His name is Telthyn. He says he was the physician who drugged you."

Daniel sucked in a breath and looked at Ethan. His first thought was that the village had decided the little boy could be returned to their planet, and he was surprised at the immediate opposition he felt to that idea. "What . . ." he cleared his throat. "What's he doing there?"

"He'd like to talk to you himself," Landry explained. "I'll give him the phone if that's all right."

Daniel swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry. "Sure," he answered, trying to sound casual.

There was an almost unbearably long moment of silence before a voice spoke. "H-hello?"

"Hi, Telthyn? This is Daniel Jackson," he said, hoping he sounded less nervous than he felt.

"By the gods . . ." the other voice gasped. "I did not believe this possible!"

Daniel resisted the urge to tell the man to get on with it. "I was told you have something to tell me about . . . about Ethan?"

The man cleared his throat. "Yes. Yes, the boy." Daniel could hear the smile in Telthyn's voice, and was suddenly certain that he would ask to have Ethan back. "He is a remarkable child, no?"

Daniel's heart sank. "I . . ."

"I hope you will understand what I am about to tell you, and in no way hold it against him," Telthyn said.

"What do you need to tell me?" Daniel asked, suddenly realizing he had moved closer to Ethan and that the little boy was looking up at him curiously.

"I thought . . . I struggled with it for some time . . . but I think you deserve to know the circumstances of your son's birth."

Daniel winced. "I figured it out, thanks," he managed.

"No, I don't believe you have. You must understand, our leader was very desperate. Seera, the boy's mother, was his only child, and no one would concede to have a child with her. There was no heir, Dr. Jackson, and never could be. So, you see why we had to do what we did."

"No, I don't," Daniel said, anger creeping into his voice.

"It was the only way!" Telthyn insisted.

"Dano?"

Daniel looked down to see Ethan staring at him, concern evident on the little boy's face. He ran a hand across the toddler's head, and forced a smile onto his face, trying to reassure him. "Telthyn, can you start at the beginning for me?"

He heard the man take a breath. "Of course. I suppose it began with the untimely death of Seera's mother. Seera herself was no older than the boy is now. The disease came swiftly, and the villagers feared it. They felt that a curse of the gods had been placed on the family, but because she was married to our leader, Thayn, nothing was done. But of course -"

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked toward the sound of Jack's voice and gestured at the phone he still held to his ear.

"- so an heir could not be produced; no one would consent to marry Seera, even though Thayn ordered it," Telthyn continued.

"Daniel, who is that?" Jack asked, walking over to him and giving Ethan's hair a ruffle.

Daniel ignored him.

"Thayn commanded me to use my knowledge of elixirs to create something to force one of the villagers to conceive a child with her, and it was on the very day that you and your party came through the Ancestral Ring that I completed his order. The gods gave you to us so that I could test the elixir without endangering one of our own people!"

Daniel felt hot anger spreading through him. "Telthyn, let me get this straight. You created something that was potentially dangerous, and you thought it would be a good idea to test it on a complete stranger?"

Daniel sensed Jack tensing next to him as the older man guessed what he was talking about.

"It was the will of the gods," Telthyn affirmed.

Daniel bit back an angry retort. "If Ethan is so important to Thayn as his heir, why did you send him here?"

Telthyn sighed heavily. "The curse. Thayn had hoped that if Seera became with child, the villagers would see it as a miracle. Instead, they decided it was further proof that she was cursed of the gods, and was carrying a demon child." He paused.

Daniel looked down at Ethan who had finally figured out the sippy cup and was drinking happily. He grinned at Daniel, unaware of the seriousness of the conversation going on.

When Telthyn spoke again, Daniel could hear the pain in his voice. "The villagers rose up and took Thayn from the seat of power, left him to rot in the prison, and replaced him with one not from the royal family. Seera was exiled." Telthyn drew a long breath before continuing. "I went to her from time to time, and was there the night the boy was born. She did not deserve her fate . . ."

Daniel settled his hand on Ethan's head, more for his own comfort this time than the little boy's. This story just kept getting more and more horrifying. "Was it you who sent him back?" he managed to ask.

"Yes. I knew it was the will of the gods when more of your people came through the Ancestral Ring, on the very day Seera lay on her death bed. I explained to her that they were there, and she told me to take the boy to them. She . . . she knew she was dying."

Daniel found himself feeling sorry for the man. He had obviously felt something for Seera and Ethan. "Why didn't you just take care of him?"

"It was the will of the gods that he be with you, Dr. Jackson. And I do not have many years left to live; I am old, and Ethan would be an outcast in the village. He cannot return." Telthyn's voice broke a little. "The gods must have told Seera what would happen. She knew the boy would eventually come to you. She . . . she had me draw a picture of you, so the boy . . . so he would recognize you." The man was almost crying, now.

Daniel looked down at Ethan, and the little boy grinned up at him again. "That explains a lot . . ." he muttered.

"May I . . . may I speak to him?"

Daniel hesitated for only a moment. He figured Telthyn deserved it, he had helped Seera and Ethan as much as he could, even though he had created the potion that caused the entire mess in the first place.

He took a deep breath. "Here he is." He pulled out the chair next to the little boy and sat down. "Ethan," he said gently. "Do you remember Telthyn?"

The little boy cocked his head and studied Daniel. "Where Teffin go?"

"He's far away, Ethan. But he wants to talk to you." Daniel pointed to the phone. "Do you want to talk to him?" Ethan nodded and reached for the phone.

He held the phone up to the little boy's ear, and recognition spread across the little boy's face when he heard Telthyn's voice. "Teffin?" Ethan listened for another moment, concentrating hard on the voice coming from the phone's speaker.

"Daniel, who _is_ that?"

Daniel jumped a little at Jack's voice. He had almost forgotten his friend was still standing there. "The man who drugged us," he replied with a little shake of his head.

Jack stared at him. "You're letting the wacko talk to the kid?"

"It's a long story, Jack," he said, looking back at Ethan.

The little boy was nodding, not understanding that Telthyn couldn't see him. He said something and all Daniel caught was "buttafies," and then turned away from the phone to focus on his sippy cup.

Daniel returned the phone to his ear. "Telthyn?"

"It was good to hear him, and know that he is well," the man said, his voice trembling. "Thank you."

There was silence, and then General Landry was speaking again. "Dr. Jackson?"

"Here, sir," Daniel replied, feeling an inexplicable sadness that Ethan and Telthyn would likely never see each other again.

"As I'm sure you've figured out, there is no way the village will take the boy back. Even if they did, I would fear for his safety. That narrows your options, Dr."

Daniel gave a short, humorless laugh. "I don't know if that will make it harder or easier."

He heard the smile in the general's voice when he spoke again. "You're a smart man. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Anything you need? Is Vala behaving herself?"

Daniel smiled, despite himself. "We're fine. And Vala is behaving herself as much as she ever has."

Landry chuckled. "That's exactly what worries me. Stay in contact, Jackson."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel replied before lowering his phone. He stared at it for a moment. The call time read eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds. Somehow, that felt like far too short a time to have heard all that he just had.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

Daniel looked up at him. "Ask me later."

* * *

Sorry for taking forever! I'm also sorry this chapter isn't very cute or long, but I hope it clears some things up. :)


End file.
